© Jeff Goulding/Times Herald-RecordState police, using a helicopter, and several other agencies were called in to search the Hudson River after a call came in that someone had jumped from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. State police divers recovered the body of William Myers, 65, of Middletown at about 12:40 p.m.
A former Orange County banker leaped off the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Tuesday morning, killing himself as bridge workers watched helplessly.
State police identified the man as William Myers, 65, of Middletown. Myers had been the CEO of two banks, one of which he founded during a career that had turned rocky in recent years.
State police Senior Investigator George Mohl said a passing motorist saw Myers park a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt in a westbound lane, walk to the edge of the bridge and jump over the side. A Bridge Authority employee notified state police at 9:45 a.m.
Myers was one of three people who jumped from Hudson River bridges within an hour of one another Tuesday. The Journal News of Westchester reported a naked man and woman jumped off the Tappan Zee Bridge at about 9 a.m.
The woman died, and the man was critically injured, according to the paper.
The timing of the two incidents apparently was a coincidence.
"As far as we know, they are not connected," Mohl said.
A state police diver discovered Myers' body at 12:40 p.m. along the western shore, north of the bridge. Rescue boats from multiple police and fire agencies had quickly focused on that section of the river, and a state police helicopter hovered overhead for much of the morning.
During his career, Myers had been the CEO of Middletown Savings Bank and was later the founding CEO of the Community Bank of Orange.
He and John D'Ambrosio also were the architects of a merger that formed the current Orange County Chamber of Commerce about 15 years ago.
D'Ambrosio is the chamber's CEO and president.
Myers' subsequent business ventures struggled. He was forced out of Community Bank of Orange and eventually filed for bankruptcy.
As far as bankers jumping off bridges and buildings, my heart bleeds piss.
Sorry, just how I feel about the parasites...