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Potsdam administrator praises work by rescue agencies in Clarkson missing student search

Posted 5/8/23

POTSDAM — Potsdam Village Administrator Greg Thompson offered praise to various rescue agencies that assisted in the search for a missing Clarkson student. The search ended in tragedy when the body …

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Potsdam administrator praises work by rescue agencies in Clarkson missing student search

Posted

POTSDAM — Potsdam Village Administrator Greg Thompson offered praise to various rescue agencies that assisted in the search for a missing Clarkson student.

The search ended in tragedy when the body of the student was found Saturday, but multiple agencies, volunteers and community members has been searching for the student since around 2 a.m. May 5.

At this time, per the request of the family, the missing student's name is not being released to the public.

Thompson offered his sympathies to the family and appreciation to the community in a message issued Monday, May 8.

“Well after what has been a very hectic past few days, it is with tremendous sorrow, yet great relief, the Village announces that we were able to locate the missing individual in the area of the Maple Street bridges. State Police divers recovered the missing person late Saturday afternoon. Although the ending is not one of joy and happiness, we know that the family can now have closure and the young person involved can go home,” he said.

“I want to personally thank everyone who played a part in this recovery: Potsdam PD, Potsdam FD, Clarkson University, Hannawa Falls FD, Massena Dive Team, Awkwesasne Dive Team, NYS Forest Rangers, NYS DEC, NYS Fire, NYS Troopers Underwater Recovery Team, SLC Emergency Services, SLC Sheriff's Office and anyone else I might be forgetting. It was a total team effort and without each and every one of you we would probably not have had the outcome we got. Events like this help us to realize how blessed we are to have these individuals in our North Country. The water is extremely cold, the volume and shear velocity of the water is very high at this time. Needless to say conditions were much less than ideal for the mission we all faced.”

Thompson also offered appreciation to the community at large.

“Events like this take a toll on everyone involved. Please know that the Village Trustees and Administration can never say thank you enough for all you did. And to our citizens, I want to say an equally large thank you. You showed great patience in how this event affected your travel and daily routines. You gave us space to do what needed to be done and as always showed a great deal of class and respect to the family and first responders. Once again, let me say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone.”