WESTBROOK – Search and rescue teams recovered a body from the Presumpscot River in Westbrook Thursday afternoon, following an extensive search of the river.

At roughly 1:10 p.m. Thursday, a dive team pulled a body from the river after a search that lasted more than three hours and included a Maine Warden Service search plane, and multiple rescue and dive teams.

In a press release shortly after, Westbrook Police Capt. Michael Nugent identified the body as a 35-year-old Westbrook man who was reported to have gone into the water at about 9:10 am.

“The body was recovered a short distance downstream from Saccarappa Falls where he had last been seen,” he said.

The search included Westbrook police, fire and rescue units, assisted by units from the Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the Standish, Gorham and Scarborough fire departments.

Nugent said the matter remains under investigation.

Early reports indicated that the man went into the river this morning in the vicinity of Mill Lane. According to Nugent, shortly thereafter, the person was seen going over Saccarappa Falls before going out of sight.

An eyewitness, Jim Peterson, said he saw the body floating just under Saccarappa Falls around 9 a.m., and he pointed out his location to emergency crews who were already on scene.

Peterson, a Portland resident who works in Westbrook, said the body went under the Bridge Street bridge, and was nearly recovered by a fire-rescue member, who failed to reach him in the current.

By 11:30 a.m. a search plane piloted by the Maine Warden Service was circling the river, and Westbrook residents lined the riverwalk behind downtown businesses, watching the search unfold.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

A rescue dive team recovered the body of a 35-year-old man from the Presumpscot River in Westbrook Thursday afternoon.Search continuesResidents look onRecovery operationSearching the banksSurveying the sceneSearch crews

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