Man Kills Self In Jump

From Rochambeau Bridge

By Andrew Gorosko

A Danbury man committed suicide on the night of Saturday, November 8, by jumping off the Rochambeau Bridge, which carries Interstate 84 across the Lake Zoar section of the Housatonic River.

State Police spokesman Sergeant J. Paul Vance on November 12 declined to identify the man who died in the jump from the span, other than to say he was an adult Danbury resident. The sergeant declined to provide many specifics about the incident.

State police discovered the man’s abandoned automobile parked with headlights on along the westbound span’s right road shoulder at about 9:39 pm. The bridge consists of two individual spans, one for westbound traffic and the other eastbound travel. The bridge rises about 50 feet above the river.

The center of the bridge marks the border of Newtown and Southbury. Orange paint markings on the road shoulder indicate the abandoned vehicle was left parked on the Southbury side of the bridge, near the center of the span.

On checking with residents at the address where the abandoned vehicle was registered, state police learned that a person was missing.

A search of the Rochambeau Bridge area late on November 8 and during the early morning hours of November 9 failed to turn up the missing man in the river, Sgt Vance said.

The state police helicopter shined a searchlight into the Housatonic in searching for the missing man, Sgt Vance said. State police divers and canine search units also were used in the effort, he said.

Newtown Underwater Search and Rescue (NUSAR) was dispatched to the bridge late on the night on November 8. NUSAR spent about 80 minutes searching.

 After spending several hours searching, state police halted the hunt. Searching resumed the following morning.

At about 10:45 am November 9, state police divers found the missing man’s corpse, Sgt Vance said. State police theorize that the westbound motorist parked the auto on the bridge and then vaulted over the bridge railings, plunging into the river, after which he died.

A state medical examiner’s autopsy has ruled the death a suicide, Sgt Vance said. There is no criminality or suspicious activity involved, he said.