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Divers Find Body of Missing N.J. Officer

Posted on: Thursday, 29 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By WAYNE PARRY

NEWARK, N.J. - Divers recovered the body of a police officer Thursday afternoon near the drawbridge where he and another officer plunged to their deaths on Christmas night, authorities said.

The body of Jersey City Officer Robert Nguyen was found by New York City police divers who were aiding in the search, said Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the New York police.

Nguyen was in an emergency services vehicle that plummeted 45 feet off the open drawbridge in blinding rain and fog into the frigid Hackensack River on Sunday night. The body was found in about 50 feet of water some 70 feet from where the truck went into the river, Browne said. It was handed off to Jersey City police, he said.

The body of the other officer, Shawn Carson, 40, was found about 90 minutes after the accident.

The officers were at the Lincoln Highway Bridge, which links Jersey City and Kearny, to help place warning cones and flares because the safety bar and bell used to warn motorists when the bridge was open were damaged in a truck accident.

Before the two officers drove back across the bridge, its operator raised the middle span to allow a tugboat to pass underneath. The truck went into the water despite efforts by horrified colleagues to flag the officers down, police said.

On Wednesday, Nguyen's mother took part in an emotional farewell ceremony held on the bridge. Sobbing uncontrollably, she pleaded for her son to come back to her as relatives supported her under each arm.

"I want to see him! Please! Momma wants to see him!" cried Bichvan Nguyen. "Where are you? Please come up! I want to see you!"

Carson's funeral was scheduled for Friday.

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Associated Press writer Michael Weissenstein in New York contributed to this report.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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