Body believed to be that of missing Newbury man found off Newburyport

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. — The body believed to be that of a 33-year-old Newbury man who went missing in waters off Newburyport was found late Sunday afternoon, police said.

Search crews recovered the body of Kevin Mahoney in the water near the North End Boat Club at around 5:20 p.m., police said.

Multiple agencies began searching for Mahoney after his girlfriend reported him missing to police around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The woman told police that Mahoney had been missing since earlier that morning, and that he was last seen near the intersection of Water and Federal Streets in Newburyport early Saturday morning near North End Boat Club on Merrimac Street.

“He was with his girlfriend and you know, they were out late, they were here at the boat club,” said Mark Murray, City Marshal for the Newburyport Police Department. “They frequented another area in town here and then they came back this area.”

His girlfriend told police that Mahoney was walking outside the club at approximately 1:30 a.m. in the driveway of the boat club’s docks.

Murray says at some point Mahoney had separated from his girlfriend.

Police later found his cell phone and backpack on one of his family’s boats, which was docked at the club.

“We have witnesses that said he went down to the dock, it was dark, he was intoxicated, that’s what we were told,” said Murray.

At that point, crews waited until daylight Sunday to begin searching the Merrimack River for him, and with a strong current and high tide, it wasn’t easy.

“The tidal change is so extreme anyway, 7 to 11 feet on a normal day, but there’s been so much water that the current’s been really rough,” said Susan St. John, who lives nearby.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts Environmental Police, Massachusetts State Police, Newburyport Fire Department, and Newburyport Harbormaster assisted with the search. Mahoney’s family also searched along the shoreline.

After searching the water all day police recovered a body, while Mahoney’s friends and family gathered on the dock in tears, holding each other as they grieve this loss.

An investigation remains ongoing by Newburyport Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to Essex District Attorney’s Office.

The State Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the manner of death.

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