The recovery operation for a 13-year-old boy who disappeared after entering the West River in New Haven has ended after three days, officials announced Saturday.
Mayor Justin Elicker said crews concluded the search at 12 p.m. on Saturday after an effort that began Thursday morning. The search continued through Thursday, resumed Friday and concluded Saturday afternoon.
Elicker identified him Saturday as King Best, a 13-year-old New Haven resident born on May 11, 2013.
“We’ve used every resource and technology available to us,” Elicker said. “Everyone wanted to find this young man and put in a lot of time and effort to find the young man.”
The New Haven Fire Department was called to the area of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Boston Post Road around 4:26 a.m. Thursday for a report of two people in the water.
King jumped into the river, and a family member jumped in after him in an attempt to rescue him. Firefighters rescued the family member, who is in stable condition.
Elicker said dozens of first responders from multiple agencies participated in the effort, including the New Haven and West Haven fire departments, the Milford and Connecticut State Police dive teams, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The search involved four boats, four drones, sonar, thermal imaging technology, search dogs, and a Coast Guard helicopter.
“This waterway was a complex site for doing this type of search,” Elicker said, noting murky water, strong currents caused by recent rain and changing tides made recovery efforts especially difficult.
Fire Chief Daniel Coughlin called it “probably one of the most extensive searches this city’s seen in years.”
“After days and days of searching and using pretty much every piece of technology and every asset available, not only in this city, but in the state of Connecticut, we came up short,” Coughlin said. “We were unable to locate him.”
King was preparing to begin eighth grade at Roberto Clemente School, where he had been a student since kindergarten.
Elicker said the school’s principal described King as “a good kid” who was well known and loved by students and staff. New Haven Public Schools has made crisis support services available to help students and employees cope with the loss.
Elicker also offered condolences to King’s family.
“You can’t imagine. King had his whole life ahead of him at 13,” Elicker said. “Losing a child is one of the most difficult things that anyone can go through. Our hearts are truly with his family today.”
Coughlin and Elicker also praised the family member who entered the river in an attempt to save King.
“They had no protective equipment,” Coughlin said. “They had no training, jumped into the water simply to save somebody they cared about.”
Officials said they still do not know how King ended up in the water.
“I got to meet with the mother,” Coughlin said. “I absolutely admire the woman. The mother and the aunt were strong, strong people. They did not want any false hope. They wanted the facts, and they were given those facts and they handled it with grace and they handled it with strength.”
