Body found in car pulled from water at Portsmouth marina

PORTSMOUTH — A body was found inside a car pulled from the water at Brewer Sakonnet Marina’s south yard this morning.

The body has not yet been identified, but Deputy Chief of Police Brian P. Peters, in a prepared statement, said the vehicle matches the description of a car that was operated by a 21-year-old South Kingstown resident who went missing last February.

Police responded to the marina, located off Rhode Island Boulevard, at about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a motor vehicle submerged in the water.

Andy Yusen, who lives on a boat at the marina, said there had been an “oil sheen” there all summer, but another man noticed it had gotten much worse lately.

“He reported it to the yard manager and they had a diver come down and found the car,” said Mr. Yusen.

The R.I. State Police were contacted for help from their dive team, and rescue swimmers from the Portsmouth Fire Department entered the water and observed that the vehicle was covered in silt and had been under water for an extended period of time, according to Deputy Peters.

“Due to safety concerns about the darkness and proximity to the pier, the vehicle was left in place and guarded overnight by Portsmouth Police,” he said in the press release. “The R.I. State Police Marine unit responded this morning and were able to recover the vehicle.

Inside the vehicle, a decomposed body was located, he said.

“The medical examiner’s office was contacted and the body has yet to be identified. The vehicle matches the description of what was being operated by a missing 21-year-old South Kingstown resident who has been missing since February,” Deputy O’Brien said.

The followup investigation is being conducted by Portsmouth Police and South Kingstown Police detectives, he said.

Odd location

Mr. Yusen said it’s a mystery as to how the car ended up where it was, since it it was found between one row of slips and there was no easy way for a vehicle to have been driven off the parking lot and into that area.

Mr. Yusen and another man speculated the perhaps the driver sped off the jetty on the marina’s north side, then a current carried the car southwardly and into the marina. The jetty is very rocky, however, so they acknowledged it would have been a difficult maneuver.

“It’s about 12 feet deep there and the car was on its roof. There are some fairly deep-draft boats that come in and out here and nobody touched him, nobody knew,” said Mr. Yusen.