What to know about the search at 'Jaws' bridge on Martha's Vineyard
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated at 6 p.m. Aug. 16, 2022, to add new information from the state police.
EDGARTOWN — State police suspended their search Tuesday afternoon for a missing 21-year-old man in water near American Legion Memorial Bridge due to poor weather and dangerous water conditions.
The search began Sunday night when four men jumped off the bridge, known as the "Jaws Bridge." Of the four men who jumped, two were rescued. Of the other two, who were brothers, the body of one man, 26, was found and one man, 21, was missing, the state police said.
The brothers were identified by a family spokesperson to the Boston Globe as Tavaughn Bulgin, 21, and Tavaris Bulgin, 26. Massachusetts State Police confirmed their identities to USA TODAY and said the brothers were from Jamaica and worked as seasonal restaurant employees in Martha's Vineyard.
An inlet and pond on the land side of the bridge was cleared during the Tuesday search for locating Tavaughn Bulgin, the state police said. Rescuers began searching the Atlantic Ocean side of the bridge but the bad weather caused conditions too dangerous to continue on Tuesday.
"We will assess weather conditions on a day-by-day basis to determine when conditions are safe for divers to resume," according to a state police statement.
Side scan sonar was brought in on Tuesday to help with search
State troopers returned earlier Tuesday morning to the area with state environmental police officers to use a side scan sonar to aid in the search.
The device uses sound waves to detect objects or anomalies in the water column or on the ocean floor. If the sonar detects an anomaly, divers then investigate.
"We have several divers and a Marine Unit boat and crew working alongside Environmental Police officers," state police spokesperson David Procopio said Tuesday morning in a statement.
"Four people last night jumped": Search underway in Edgartown for man who jumped off 'Jaws Bridge'
The area to be searched encompasses the inlet on the land side of the bridge and the ocean on the seaward side, Procopio said.
The state police and U.S. Coast Guard officials at Woods Hole were not immediately available for comment Tuesday morning.
The search for the missing man began late Sunday night
The police began searching Sunday night around midnight, when Edgartown Police requested help from state police to search for two young men who jumped into the water from the bridge. The young men did not surface after jumping, according to state police.
"Four people last night jumped off the bridge. Two of them were rescued by a local fire department after a 911 caller expressed concern about the four individuals who went into the water," Adam Sansoucie of the U.S. Coast Guard Station Woods Hole said on Monday morning.
In Woods Hole, the Coast Guard received the initial notification around 11:20 p.m. on Sunday night, he said.
"Two were not rescued last night. One was seen about 200 feet offshore going under the water and not resurfacing. The searches from that point have been nonstop," Sansoucie said on Monday morning.
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State police called in boats and aircraft. Local police and firefighters searched for the men until about 3:30 a.m. on Monday, according to updates from state police. State police divers were brought to the island to resume the search Monday morning.
What is the "Jaws Bridge"
The "Jaws Bridge" is officially titled the American Legion Memorial Bridge, located on Beach Road. It connects Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. It is illegal to jump off of the bridge, Sansoucie said.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Rescuers at 'Jaws' Bridge on Martha's Vineyard suspend search
