Witnesses: Prudence woman intentionally entered water from ferry

Search for missing 39-year-old islander is ongoing

Posted 12/7/21

PORTSMOUTH — Several witnesses have told Portsmouth Police that a 39-year-old woman who is now missing intentionally climbed over the deck railing of the Prudence Island Ferry Monday night …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Witnesses: Prudence woman intentionally entered water from ferry

Search for missing 39-year-old islander is ongoing

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Several witnesses have told Portsmouth Police that a 39-year-old woman who is now missing intentionally climbed over the deck railing of the Prudence Island Ferry Monday night and entered the water.

The search for the woman, a resident of Prudence Island, is ongoing and the incident is still under investigation, police said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Dec. 6, at about 6:30 p.m., Portsmouth Police were alerted that a female passenger had fallen into the water from the Prudence Island Ferry and was missing. The ferry had departed Bristol at 5:45 p.m. and was on its way to Prudence Island. 

The Coast Guard, Bristol, and Portsmouth worked alongside several other agencies searching the area waters for several hours. High winds, darkness, and rough seas hampered the search effort, according to police. The search was called off at about 11 p.m. Monday and resumed Tuesday at about 9 a.m.

While the search was taking place, members of the Portsmouth Police Detective Division responded to Prudence Island and interviewed the other passengers. The vessel was reportedly west of Hog Island in the vicinity of Poppasquash Point when the woman fell from the ferry. 

“Witnesses reported she was alone on the deck of vessel when the incident occurred,” Portsmouth Police stated in a press release. “From several witness accounts, it appeared that the woman intentionally climbed over the deck railing and entered the water.”

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.