UPDATE: A former assistant provost at The College of New Jersey became the 13th person this year to commit suicide by jumping from the George Washington Bridge.
Authorities hadn’t yet recovered the body of 50-year-old Patrick Donohue, who left his job on July 1 after nine years with the college.
But family members have said they are certain he is the man who Port Authority police said reportedly jumped from the bridge at 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Several eyewitnesses confirmed that Wednesday’s jumper went off the bridge midspan, the authority’s Joseph Pentangelo said.
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A PUBLISHER WRITES: The Port Authority’s plans for a nine-foot, $50 million barrier to deter would-be jumpers from the George Washington Bridge is beyond welcomed. READ MORE….
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Port Authority police also have intervened in or averted 36 potential leaps from the GWB this year, Pentangelo said.
Another 17 reports proved unfounded, he said.
At the current rate of one suicide jump every two weeks, roughly two dozen people will have plunged to their deaths from the bridge by year’s end, a recent record. Last year saw 18 GWB suicide leaps.
Unconfirmed reports were that Donohue’s car was found near the bridge after he left a note for a loved one before his disappearance Tuesday night.
