Friends and family huddled along the banks of the Quinnipiac River Tuesday morning, watching divers search for a 17-year-old boy who slipped under the water the night before. Search teams still combed the water Tuesday, but said they were expecting a “recovery,” not a “rescue.”
Police say three teenage boys jumped into the chilly water near the Ferry Street Bridge Tuesday night and tried to swim out to a dock. Battling 60-degree water and a swift current dragging out to the sea, only two swam to safety. The third boy, a sophomore at Wilbur Cross High School, slipped under the water. Authorities say he was probably whisked away by the current. A neighbor heard the other boys shouting and called police at 10 p.m.
Dozens of people gathered along Quinnipiac Avenue Tuesday, sobbing and holding each other. Some had been there all night as helicopters and boats crisscrossed the water.
One woman, Luz Figueroa, stood drinking coffee along the banks. She identified the boy as 17-year-old Elbin Rodriguez. “He’s like my grandson,” she said —‚Äù her 16-year-old granddaughter is pregnant with his child.
Her granddaughter sat huddled with friends in the shade of a tree. That girl’s younger sister, Sandra, clutched a photo of the couple. She said few words, except that the family preferred to keep quiet until the search was complete.
Others shared donuts and sat on a nearby porch. Firemen slipped out of a cordoned-off area of the riverfront, near Quinnipiac Avenue and Oxford Street, to update the family.
At a press conference at the Coast Guard base on Woodward Avenue, authorities detailed their multi-pronged response. The many-armed rescue began with a 911 dispatch call at 10 p.m. Boats responded in 15 minutes.
U.S. Coast Guard helicopters flew in from Cape Cod to cast search lights on the water. Crews crossed the river and New Haven Harbor all night amid lightning and rain. New Haven firefighters and police got a rush of backup from State Troopers and neighboring fire departments: Branford, West Haven and Milford.
Dive teams waited until daylight to plunge in the water. Visibility in the Q River is basically “what you can see with your eyes closed,” said Milford Fire Lt. Chris Zak. So Milford Fire came in with state-of-the-art sonar equipment to get a better look.
The boy could probably survive in the chilly water until only 6:30 a.m., said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Peter Boynton (pictured at right), captain of the port for the Long Island Sound. Coast Guard officials kept boats and helicopters searching but did not expect a rescue.
“Once you’re in that cold water,” warned Boynton, you lose control. Hypothermia kicks in. “We want people to enjoy the water,” he said. But he cautioned: While it feels like August outside, “It is not August in the water.”
Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. said officials were on hand at Wilbur Cross High School Tuesday to counsel students. He thanked surrounding towns for “great cooperation.” “It’s been a good effort by everybody and I just pray that it ends well.”
What's more foolish? Swimming at night in the Quinnipiac River with the tide rushing out or deciding to have a baby at age 16 with someone who at 17 is still a sophmore at Cross High and swims in the Q? Oscar Wilde was right -- "Youth is wasted on the young."