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Search underway for Iraqi war vet feared drowned in Lawrence

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 13, 2009 11:52 AM

(Bill Greene/Globe Staff)

Family members and onlookers watch as Lawrence police, firefighters, and State Police search the Merrimack River for missing boater and Iraq war veteran Juan Guzman.

By Brian Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

LAWRENCE -- As dozens looked on in sadness, authorities today were combing the Merrimack River for the remains of Juan Guzman, an Iraqi war veteran who was knocked into the water Sunday night when two boats collided.

Guzman, who was 29 and a Methuen resident, was on a boat with several others on the river near Riley Park when a smaller boat slammed into it around 7:20 p.m. Sunday.

Guzman was pitched into the river, and despite rescue efforts by friends and Lawrence authorities, he could not be located.

Today, two women sat in an ambulance clutching teddy bears while they watched divers and public safety personnel in small boats searching the river for Guzman’s body.

Nearby, a clutch of about 40 people who seemed to know Guzman gathered, and sometimes women in the group hugged each other with tears in their eyes.

Lawrence Police Chief John Romero said today that investigators are trying to learn who was in the smaller boat. He said when police arrived Sunday, the boat was abandoned and empty.

He said a passenger on Guzman’s boat told police they knew someone on the smaller craft, but when detectives spoke with that person, they denied being on board.

Divers, police and firefighters from Lawrence, Lowell, Chelmsford, and the State Police were at the scene today.

The crash occurred near the park boat ramp, and today that space was largely consumed by emergency vehicles. In all, some 200 people were on hand and were being kept away from the river’s banks by police tape.