Police Recover Body of James Lind

Wilton police and rescue workers recovered the body of Wiltonian James Lind at 12 p.m. on Monday afternoon.

The discovery was the culmination of over three days of vigorous searching along the tumescent Norwalk River, where Lind and his reported girlfriend, Doreen Wallace, had been kayaking on Friday night.

"At about noon time today the body of a white male was located in the vicinity of School Rd. and Pimpewaug Rd. in the river," said Police Chief Michael Lombardo at a 3 p.m. news conference.

Though the cause of the incident is still under investigation, a combination of bad weather and a fast-moving current are believed to be at fault for both Wallace and Lind's deaths. Officials said neither Lind nor Wallace are believed to have been wearing personal flotation devices or helmets.

As Patch reported Friday evening Carl Strate, a busser at the Schoolhouse Restaurant, pulled Wallace from the river and reported that she was "breathing faintly, her eyes were hazed and she was foaming at the mouth." She was unconscious and also had a gash in her forehead, which Strate said could have resulted from kayaking over a dam upriver.

Lind's body was ultimately recovered about a mile south of where Wallace was pulled from the river.

According to Lombardo, Lind's body is being transported to the Connecticut Medical Examiner's office. Wilton Police Lieutenant Don Wakeman said the results of the autopsy will not be available for six to eight weeks and police officials said they would not speculate on the exact cause of death in the interim.

If the cause of death does prove to be drowning, Lombardo said it would be the first case reported in Wilton in a long time.

"It's been quite a while [since we've had such an incident]," Lombardo said. "It's been more than a few years since we've had a drowning, probably at least four or five years."

Lombardo did not say whether the town would be implementing any new regulations surrounding river use after the incident, but he did say the police department will likely send out alerts and warnings in the future when bad weather makes for threatening conditions.

"Especially during storms and heavy rains, people should stay out of the water," Lombardo said. "It's a lethal combination."

Lombardo and First Selectman Bill Brennan both commended Wilton's police, fire, EMS and rescue workers for their hard work and cooperation. They also touted the efforts and assistance from surrounding towns like Norwalk and Westport that devoted workers and resources to the effort.

On Monday, about a dozen members of the Wilton Dive Rescue Team, as well as a number of on-shift members of the fire and police departments were present to help discover and recover Lind's body.