Coast Guard Finds Body Of Missing Woman Who Fell Into Water In Scituate After Boat Capsized

SCITUATE (CBS) - The body of a missing woman who fell overboard while boating on the North River in Scituate was found by the U.S. Coast Guard Saturday evening.

According to Massachusetts State Police, the body was found shortly before 10 p.m. by the Coast Guard. She was 78 years old.

The town administrator, Jim Boudreau, told WBZ-TV that three people were onboard when the vessel capsized at around 4:30 p.m. Police were notified about the boat, and were aided by the national guard in rescuing the three people.

Boudreau said the waters are notoriously choppy, making for a difficult search.

"The mouth of the North River is a very difficult place on the best of circumstances. You have adverse winds, you have tides, you have a storm coming in. It's a very difficult place to boat, let alone do a search like this," Boudreau said.

A man and a woman were safely brought the shore, but the third boater never resurfaced. The Coast Guard says the water temperature was about 56 degrees at the time she fell in.

It was heartbreaking for neighbors watching from the shore as police on four wheelers and boats desperately searched for her.

"It hits home because I'm 71. I feel terrible. I'm devastated. I've been praying they find her," said Linda O'Malley from Scituate. "The water today, I noticed that it's been kind of crazy. The waves have been high and the water is coming over the rocks."

As night fell, the regional dive team called off their search for the woman as the Coast Guard and Environmental Police continued to scour the waters high above in helicopters and on land.

Boudreau said the body drifted closer to shore and was located by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter ship just before 10 p.m.

The Coast says this is the sixth boater to have lost their life in the last month in the Northeast.