Days Later, City Ends Search For 13-Year-Old Who Jumped In West River

by Thomas Breen

Roughly two and a half days after a 13-year-old New Havener jumped into the West River near the West Haven border, the New Haven Fire Department has ended its “search and rescue and recovery effort” without having found his body.

Mayor Justin Elicker and city Fire Chief Daniel Coughlin announced the conclusion of that search at a 2 p.m. press conference Saturday.

They also identified the 13-year-old as King Best, a New Haven resident who was preparing to enter the eighth grade at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy in the Hill. He had been a student there since kindergarten.

“This has been a very long search and rescue and recovery effort,” Elicker said, after the 13-year-old jumped into the West River at around 4:30 a.m. Thursday. “We’ve searched the entirety of the West River multiple times,” going as far as the Long Island Sound.

He said that dozens of first responders were involved from multiple agencies, including New Haven’s fire department, West Haven’s fire department, Milford’s dive team, the state police, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

“This waterway was a complex site for doing this type of search,” Elicker said. “The water is very turbid” and “the visibility is very low” at certain parts.

“Everyone wanted to find this young man, and put in a lot of time and effort to find him … Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we’ve been unable to locate him.” So, as “disappointing and painful as this is,” the recovery operation concluded at noon on Saturday.

Coughlin said that the city still does not know how King ended up in the water at 4:30 a.m. Thursday. He praised the bravery of an adult relative of King’s who jumped into the water after him to try to save him — and who wound up needing to be rescued himself.

Coughlin said that the search for King was “one of the most extensive searches this city has seen in years. … We went up and down this river dozens of times. Unfortunately, we found nothing.”

Elicker held up a picture of King at Saturday’s presser. He also read a statement written by Roberto Clemente Principal Adela George. George described King as having a “rare, powerful compassion” and a “radiant smile,” according to Elicker. She spoke of his “gentle spirit,” “brilliant mind,” and “boundless potential.”

Elicker said that New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) has mobilized crisis support services to help students and staff at Clemente in the wake of King’s presumed death. “King will be missed the most by his family,” Elicker said. “My heart just goes out to his family.” He said he had spoken to King’s mother multiple times.

King had his whole life ahead of him, Elicker said. “Now he’s lost to our community.”