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Dutchess County Sheriff's officials received reports of a possible body floating near the bridge around noon Tuesday, July 31, said Lt. Shawn Castano.
Two department boats were dispatched and deputies located the body in the river, he said.
The body was removed from the river by members of the Sheriff’s Office, City of Poughkeepsie Police and Dutchess County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Officials did not immediately comment on whether the body may be that of 49-year-old Paul Machettia of the City of Poughkeepsie who went missing a week ago off of Victor C. Waryas Park while trying to save a swimmer in the Hudson River.
Macchettia entered the water to help after one of five people who entered the Hudson River began to struggle to stay afloat around noontime on July 24. The swimmer who was in distress recovered but Machettia failed to resurface.
Since then, an extensive search of the Hudson River off of the City of Poughkeepsie shoreline was conducted. The search was suspended on Sunday night, July 29.
Various search methods were used, including aerial search by helicopters, surface searches by boats and underwater searches utilizing sonar and police divers.
The investigation into the identity of the person has been turned over to the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department and the Dutchess County Medical Examiner’s Office.
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