After dramatic interruption, search continues for GWB jumper

The search for the body of a man who jumped from the George Washington Bridge continued a week after EMS crew made a dramatic rescue.

FORT LEE -- The search for the body of a man who jumped from the George Washington Bridge continued a week after a dramatic interruption.

Volunteers with the New Square Hatzolah EMS were combing the bed of the Hudson River for a member of their community, a Hasidic village in Ramapo, N.Y., on Feb. 2.

The group had hired a boat, a captain and professional divers, who were underwater when one of them heard a splash coming from the bridge. They pulled the divers out and hustled over, plucking a 26-year-old woman from Somerset County out of the river.

"We just forgot our own recovery and saved someone's life," Moshe Kaff, a captain with New Square Hatzolah said.

Kaff said the woman has since expressed gratitude for the rescue.

The group has been searching the river for a 46-year-old member of their community since Jan. 22, when surveillance footage appears to show him jumping off the George Washington Bridge. He was divorced from his wife and had three children.

A team of volunteers from New Square has led the search, Heshy Gottdiner, a Monsey businessman who has helped with the effort, said. The group has spent thousands of dollars to rent sonar equipment and hire divers, boats and cadaver-sniffing dogs.

Private backers are funding the search, but the group also has a GoFundMe page. The page had raised more than $10,000 as of Wednesday. The group has also received assistance from several organizations, including police departments in New York and New Jersey.

On the day of the rescue, dogs and sonar had picked something up south of the bridge. The divers were investigating before they had to pull out.

On Tuesday, they returned to the site, but the signal turned out to be stone and debris, Kaff said. The day's search ended up costing close to $10,000.

In the Jewish faith, the man's soul won't rest in peace until he's buried. Kaff asked anyone walking along the river to keep an eye out.

"It's really sad and painful for the family and everyone," Kaff said.