Crews have recovered the body of the motorcyclist who crashed on the Taylor Southgate Bridge and fell into the Ohio River Saturday night.
Family and friends joined local officials in the search for the 23-year-old, who loved ones declined to identify. Newport police said he appeared to be traveling north on the bridge Saturday when he collided with the rear of a vehicle stopped in traffic and was “ejected over the side of the bridge.”
Boone County Water Rescue found the man’s body 100 yards from the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge and 300 feet from the Cincinnati riverbank. The body was taken to the Campbell County Coroner’s Office.
Tino Barbosa, a family friend who described himself as being like the man’s uncle, said as the search was underway that friends and family were helping with the search in hopes that they could give the family closure.
“All his friends, everybody has been there, been trying to help, trying to be supportive,” Barbosa said earlier in the day. “We know, of course, (he is) not going to be alive. At least (we can) find him so his father can give him a proper funeral.”
According to his family, the man lived in Cincinnati and worked at a local Mexican restaurant.
“(He was) young, energetic. I mean, the adjectives that I could use to describe him are like, so many,” Barbosa said. “Outgoing, nice, very gentle.”
Water search and rescue teams “searched all night” Saturday for the motorcyclist. They also searched through the night on Sunday before getting back out on the water Monday morning.
According to Boone County Water Rescue, crews on Monday conducted a visual search and using sonar technology. While the weather didn’t inhibit the effort, debris floating in the water complicated the search.
“Yes, typically around bridge areas, there is a larger debris field,” said Danielle Gronefeld with Boone County Water Rescue.
About a dozen family and friends of the man searched alongside the water team on Monday. When asked what the community can do for the man’s family, Barbosa said, “praying, sending good vibes, sending good energy.”