FIRST ON 6: Body pulled from Beavertail State Park

September 4, 2017 6:18 pm

By John Krinjak

Email: jkinjak@abc6.com

Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

JAMESTOWN, R.I. (WLNE) — Authorities are investigating the discovery of a body along the rocky coast of Beavertail State Park in Jamestown.

Authorities confirmed Monday night that the victim was a white man who appears to have been between the ages of 30 and 50.

Exactly how he ended up in the water remains unclear, but police say accidents are quite common in the area where the body was found, and this is the not the first fatality they’ve seen there.

Just after noon Monday a visitor came across the body and called police.

"When we got here there were a couple police officers, roped it off," said Jay Biethan, who witnessed the body being pulled out.

"Medical examiner was here, and then the environmental police and we saw a couple people here by the rocks and there was a scuba diver that had come out of the water a couple times and then there was a bigger hoard of people and then we saw them take out the body," said eyewitness Dean Dalomba.

The body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy. Police have no immediate cause of death, but say it appears the body had been in the water for less than 48 hours.

"Very unsettling. It puts an odd twist on the day, that’s for sure," said Dalomba.

Those who frequent this area of the park say these steep rocks and the fast-moving waters below can be a dangerous combination.

"Yeah, 100 percent. you cannot be reckless at all. you have to be totally alert in this water," said Dalomba. "Sometimes I’ll come by myself, but I’ll never go in the water today."

"It’s sad. It’s really unfortunate," said Biethan.