NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire police continued the search Sunday afternoon for a Nashua teenager who they believe fell down a storm drain during heavy rain on Friday night.
A police helicopter in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, may have located a body floating in the Merrimack River, Nashua Police Chief Andrew Lavoie said at press conference Sunday. Police in Massachusetts are working to retrieve the possible body. No identification has been made. Meanwhile, a search of the Nashua and Merrimack rivers, as well as Nashua’s sewer system, remains underway.
Jacob Goulet, 16, was reported missing by his parents Saturday after he did not return home from a friend’s house the night before. The police had received a citizen report Friday night about personal items found near an open storm drain. Authorities believe Goulet fell down the storm drain.
Lavoie said the search is still active and covering an “extensive” area. Police are “putting every available asset toward finding Jacob in as timely a manner as possible,” he said.
“The search has not been scaled back, it has not been stopped, it has not been slowed down,” Lavoie said.
Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess said the city has hired a contractor to install cameras in the sewer system to continue looking for Goulet. He said a search already conducted did not reveal anything, and he said it’s not possible to shut the city sewer system down.
Donchess said counselors will be available for students Monday morning at Nashua High School North.
“If Jacob has been lost, this is a tragedy for our community,” he said.
Lavoie cautioned that the search is still active and said police are not assuming Goulet dead.
“We’re treating it as we need to find Jacob, whether he is alive or he is not,” he said.
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