Police say there are no obvious signs of foul play in the death of a 64-year-old man found face down in the under a bridge in Logan River Friday, March 29.
66-year-old Eric Larsen likes to take his dog, Buddy, outdoors three or four times a day and the bridge near his apartment on Riverwalk Parkway is his favorite spot because he likes to watch the fish in the river.
"My dog stopped over here on the bridge to relieve himself and I looked up and saw it," Larsen says. "I thought it was a maniquin at first but I realized it was body. He was face down in the water."
Larsen’s first instinct was to go down the bank to the man but he knew he couldn’t. The depth of the water wasn’t an issue - it was shallow, probably only ankle deep. But Larsen has bad knees so he uses a wheelchair to get around. There was nothing he could do but call 911.
"I wanted to go down and see if I could help him but," Larsen trails off. "I just feel that maybe I could, I didn't know. But then I thought, 'he's under the water.' I knew he was dead."
First responders arrived around 10:30 AM Friday and tried to revive the man, but he was declared dead at the scene.
Larsen’s neighbor, Mike Hitchcock, arrived at the bridge soon after the police and an hour after officials had pulled the body from the river, Hitchcock was still there, resting his elbows on the railing. He looks out on the peaceful water. After today, he says he’ll never be able to look at the river the same.
"You see someone laying face down in the water that's something you never want to see again," Hitchcock says.
An exact cause of death for the man has yet to be determined but police say they’ve learned that he had gone out to fish in the river.
