Deputies Search For Body Of Bridge Diver

The Benton County sheriff’s office searched Sunday for a southern Idaho man who dived off an Interstate 82 bridge into the Columbia River.

The man’s name was not released pending notification of relatives, deputies said.

Deputies said the southern Idaho man and a hitchhiker he picked up earlier in the day stopped at Plymouth to cool off Saturday afternoon.

The men jumped from the Interstate Bridge, a 65 foot drop, and landed in water about 9 feet deep.

“When I came up, I looked over and saw some bubbles and saw him go under,” said the hitchhiker, who declined to give his name.

A Benton County sheriff’s boat on patrol 100 yards downstream searched for the man but could not find him, deputies said.

Three police agencies from across the river in Oregon also helped in the search along with the Columbia Basin Dive Rescue.