Editor
A Milford man was recently identified as the victim of a car falling into the Ohio River off of the Combs-Hehl Bridge.
The Campbell County Coroner identified David Bouma, of Milford, as the man whose car fell of the Combs-Hehl Bridge on March 15 at about 4:30 p.m. The cause of death was massive head trauma, said Mark Schweitzer, coroner.
The Campbell County Police Department was contacted on March 17 about a possible missing person. After speaking with family members and doing a follow-up investigation, officers learned the missing man was last seen in Campbell County and regularly travels over the bridge. Officers also learned that the missing man drove a red Pontiac Grand Prix.
The Milford Police Department received a call from the parents of David Bouma, of Milford, when they hadn’t heard from their son in a couple days. The police went to his residence and confirmed that he and his vehicle were not there, said Chief Jamey Mills.
Officers found some paperwork on his car, and used technology to discover that his phone last pinged one minute before the accident and was close to the bridge when it pinged. Officers used the same technology to see that Bouma had not been checking his email or anything, Mills said.
At that point there was no evidence that he was not the driver, Mills said.
The Boone County Water Rescue Team could not rescue the vehicle or the victim until March 26, as river conditions were too dangerous. The vehicle was located prior to the dive on March 26.
The Water Rescue team’s first priority was to remove the victim, then the vehicle if possible. To do that, the team planned to bring in a tow boat with a platform with a crane. Commercial divers would be on scene with tools to extract the victim, according to a March 18 media briefing.
The team would not attempt the rescue unless the river’s speed was 1.5 miles per hours or below, according to the media briefing.
The accident is still under investigation by the Campbell County Police, so no further information was available.