Police searching for mannequin in river during drill find actual body

WARWICK, R.I. — A police dive team searching for a mannequin hidden in the Pawtuxet River as part of a body-recovery drill on Wednesday instead found an actual human body, authorities said.

The team found a man's body under the bridge in Pawtuxet Village, said Warwick's police chief, Col. Stephen M. McCartney.

Investigators were not treating the case as a suspicious death, McCartney confirmed later on Wednesday.

Investigators tentatively identified the man, a 55-year-old Warwick resident. The police would not release his name before notifying the next of kin, McCartney said.

The Warwick dive time trains monthly, he said.

The team's commander, Sgt. Robert Hart, called for a police response to the river at 1:07 p.m., McCartney said.

The training session transitioned into a recovery operation with at least one diver patrolling the river area for an extended period of time Wednesday afternoon.

News of the discovery broke when the Cranston police said they were assisting the Warwick police with a report of a body found in the Pawtuxet River near Narragansett Parkway.

With reports from staff writer Tom Mooney