State police and state Econ officers continue to search the Housatonic for Richard Fiske, 75, a Woodbridge resident who fell into the Housatonic River Monday.
In an e‑mail to the Valley Indy, Col. Kyle Overturf said: “There search is underway now. My agency has two vessels searching and the State Police Dive team is utilizing their side scan sonar searching for the missing boater.”
Overturf is the director of the State Environmental Conservation Police.
The missing boater was identified Tuesday morning as Richard Fiske.
Emergency crews have been searching for the man since about 2 p.m. Monday, when the man’s scull — a long row boat — was found empty.
According to Overturf, Fiske signed out a scull from the New Haven Rowing Club at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
The New Haven Rowing Club is at 407 Roosevelt Drive (Route 34) in Oxford.
At about 2 p.m., a person from the rowing club spotted the empty boat near the organization’s dock. The person called 911. Oxford firefighters then requested assistance searching the water from crews in Seymour, Shelton and Derby.
However, authorities believe Fiske may have been in the water since at least 1 p.m. because they received a report later in the day from someone who had seen the boat overturned at about 1 p.m.
The Search
As of 5 p.m. Monday, the search was still active, according to Overturf. A helicopter has been assisting.
Shelton and Derby emergency crews gathered at Indian Well State Park in Shelton Monday afternoon.
The DEEP also launched a boat from the Indian Well State Park boat launch Monday afternoon. The team had a dog with it on the boat.
Seymour and Oxford officials gathered at the Lakehouse restaurant parking lot, and at the parking lot for the New Haven Rowing Club.
By nightfall, the crews at those sites had turned on large spotlights facing the river. A helicopter circled overhead with a spotlight illuminating portions of the river.
At about 4 p.m. Monday the man’s boat was brought to the shore by the DEEP search team. It was recovered downstream from the New Haven Rowing Club dock.
The 75-year-old man is a member at the club, Overturf said. The man’s car and belongings were found parked nearby, he said.
Authorities are considering the incident an accident and assume the man fell out of the boat.
Twenty minutes into the search, emergency officials had said they were searching for a missing fishermen. However, that information changed by the time Overturf gave a press conference Monday evening.
We’re updating with more details constantly on Twitter and Facebook.
