02-05-2025
Recovery mission continues Thursday for man who jumped from Hudson Memorial Bridge
May 2—A man jumped off the Hudson Memorial Bridge on Wednesday evening, according to Decatur police, and the Morgan County Rescue Squad confirmed Thursday the search had become a recovery mission as they sought to find his body.
Decatur police spokeswoman Irene Cardenas-Martinez said officers responded about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday after a report that an individual had jumped from the Hudson Memorial Bridge. Decatur police, the Morgan County Rescue Squad, and Decatur Fire & Rescue arrived shortly after the call came in.
Rescue squads from surrounding counties also searched for much of the night, resumed their search at daybreak Thursday and as of Thursday evening had not found the body.
On Thursday morning, the search from a staging area at Ingalls Harbor included the Athens-Limestone Rescue Squad, Childersburg Rescue Squad, Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad, Morgan County Emergency Management Agency and Christian Aid Ministry from Vanleer, Tennessee.
Morgan County Rescue Squad Capt. Ben Davis remained on scene Thursday as four divers from the Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad prepared to search the cold backwaters of Wheeler Lake.
Davis said the individual was an older white man wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. He said the man had driven a white Ford truck to the bridge alone before exiting the vehicle and a witness told him he jumped headfirst into the water, which is about 30 feet deep at that point.
"We had a team go out earlier this morning with side-scan sonar and a device called AquaEye, which helps identify objects underwater," Davis said. "They've had several positive hits in the same area where he went in. We're going to do another sweep to confirm those hits."
Davis said based on witness accounts and the nature of the jump, the search has now become a recovery mission, as it is assumed the man did not survive.
He added that crews do not believe the body had drifted far from the point of entry, but cold-water temperatures are likely preventing it from surfacing.
"Usually, when someone doesn't resurface, even with strong currents, they sink and stay in the same area until body gases begin forming and causes them to float," Davis said. "With colder water, that process slows down because the body doesn't swell as quickly."
Davis said sonar equipment is helping speed up the search.
"Sonar gives us a detailed map of the river bottom, and you can actually make out the outline if there is a body," he said.
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