Elderly City Man Jumps from Ferry in Suicide

By WYDaily Staff Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry was about halfway across the James River yesterday afternoon when passengers saw an elderly man leap from the deck into the frigid water.

James City Police Lieutenant Jeremy Barnett said several witnesses on the Jamestown-bound Pocahontas saw the man jump around 2:45 p.m., and one passenger tried to stop the man as he scaled the railing. Investigators are considering the death a suicide. Police determined the man was alone and had boarded the ferry on the Surry side.

Barnett said once the ferry pilot became aware of the man's leap into the water he circled around and launched a rescue boat. A crew on the rescue boat located the man within a few minutes and pulled his body aboard the rescue boat, which met up with members of the James City Fire Department near Jamestown Island. They transported the victim to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The man's name was withheld as emergency officials notified family members, Barnett said.

VDOT shut down the ferry for about two hours while investigators spoke to passengers and removed the man's car from the boat.