Local News
The couple apparently fell through ice in Eastham on Feb. 14 while walking their dog, police and fire officials said.
An Eastham couple fell through ice at Bee’s River on Feb. 14, officials said. David Curran for the Boston Globe
A woman died on Saturday while her husband remained missing on Sunday after the couple apparently fell through ice in Eastham and never resurfaced, police and fire officials said.
The woman fell through ice at First Encounter Beach on Saturday morning, Chief Lisa Albino of the Eastham Fire Department and Chief Adam Bohannon of the Eastham Police Department said in a joint statement.
Police received a call about a distressed, wet dog that was loose in the First Encounter Beach parking lot, the departments said.
“An Eastham Officer arrived on scene and heard a woman screaming for help in the area of Bee’s River,” officials said.
When first responders arrived at the shore, they saw a woman who had fallen through the ice about 30 feet from the shoreline, the officials said.
Two police officers went onto the ice in an attempt to rescue the woman, but both fell through the ice and were unable to save her, the chiefs said. Both officers were able to make it back to shore safely, they said.
Members of the Eastham Fire Department arrived at the shore, where staff entered the water in wetsuits designed for cold temperatures. During an initial search, the team was unable to locate the woman, the chiefs said.
The Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team, the Barnstable County Dive Team, and drones from the Eastham Police Department were all called in to help with the search, the officials said.
Divers found the woman at 11 a.m., and she was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement read.
An investigation indicated that a man — the woman’s husband — was also at the beach with the woman as the pair walked their dog, the chiefs said.
“It was determined that the male subject likely fell through the ice prior to the arrival of emergency personnel and did not resurface,” the officials wrote.
The man was not found, even after a six-hour search that included a large dive team and underwater cameras. The search was called off at 5 p.m. until the next morning due to lack of daylight, according to the statement.
The couple’s dog was brought to members of their extended family, officials said.
Members of the Eastham fire and police departments returned Sunday morning to continue the search, conducting a search of the accessible parts of the shoreline and using a police drone, the police department said in an update. After two hours, the man had not been found, police said.
“Additional search efforts will be conducted when changes to the ice conditions occur, allowing access for public safety personnel,” the department wrote.
Officials are not publicly releasing the couple’s names at the request of their families, police said.
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