Drowning In Riverhead

It was dusk, but two witnesses clearly saw a vehicle heading toward a beach access ramp at high speed and incredibly, going airborne into the Long Island Sound.

The two men were just off Roanoke Avenue at about 7:30 PM October 3, they told Riverhead Town Police, who arrived on the scene within minutes. The two men, arriving officers, and ambulance personnel entered the water, and it didn’t take long to see it: a red Honda SUV, submerged about 100 feet offshore. There was a man inside.

The emergency service technicians and police worked frantically to free him; resuscitation efforts began at once and continued on the beach. Time seemed to stand still: only a half-hour or so passed between the time the Honda was seen on the ramp and the time the victim was raced to Peconic Bay Medical Center. But the man, who police said later determined was 21, was declared dead.

Police and firefighters meanwhile stayed behind to search for more bodies. Police and fire department boats were launched and the search expanded to no avail. Police have yet to release the identity of the victim.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com