Teen from Mahopac dies at Bull's Bridge

KENT — A teenager from Mahopac, N.Y., drowned in the Bulls Bridge area of the Housatonic River on Sunday, June 6.

According to state police, the body of 16-year-old Maria Sanchez Montoya was recovered around 7:30 p.m. She had apparently been submerged for more than an hour.

Some news reports said she had been swimming with members of her family. Apparently they were on land owned by Northeast Utilities and were not on a town-owned portion of the river.

A 911 call was placed after 6 p.m., according to news reports. Volunteer firefighters from Kent, Gaylordsville, Cornwall and Goshen came to the river. Goshen has a dive team and Cornwall has a  swift-water rescue team.

The investigation into the incident was completed on Monday, June 7; police said the drowning was determined to be accidental. However, a postmortem examination will be conducted by the office of the chief state medical examiner.

This drowning is the third reported in the state this week. And it occurs almost exactly one year after the death of Kaelan Paton.

Kaelan, who was 16 at the time, drowned on June 16, 2009, in the Housatonic River near the Great Falls in Falls Village.

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