HAVERHILL — Police say a tree trunk or large tree limb floating downstream between the Comeau and Basiliere bridges may have been mistaken for an overturned kayak.
Yesterday at 1:33 p.m., police received a 911 call indicating a man was clinging to a kayak and floating down the Merrimack River between the two bridges.
Police and firefighters from the Central Fire Station on Water Street raced across the Basiliere Bridge to reach a point on the Bradford riverbank where they could approach the water for a close look. Firefighters in a speed boat traveled up and down the river between the two bridges while at least a half dozen police patrolmen and detectives scanned the river from various vantage points, including the boardwalk behind Haverhill Bank on Merrimack Street.
Police Lt. Anthony Haugh said the search lasted approximately 20 minutes but no kayak or person was seen.
"We did see a couple of logs that were floating downstream but we did not find a kayak or anyone holding onto to anything," he said.
Several men who were on the boardwalk at the time the call came in to police said they had seen the log and other debris floating by but did not see a kayak.
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