Massive Search and Recovery Effort Finds Victim of Accidental Drowning

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Island public safety officials are now extending their appreciation to the community for the many hundreds of volunteers and businesses that donated time, energy and support to an exhaustive search effort that led to the recovery of the body of Tisbury police officer Paul J. Nichols.

The body of Mr. Nichols was recovered Tuesday, three days after he drowned in a kayak boating accident in Tisbury Great Pond. The manhunt began Sunday night, soon after his wife, Anne, reported that her husband had failed to return home. Hundreds of volunteers and public safety personnel combed the shoreline. Boaters and divers searched the waters for three days.

Mr. Nichols, 38, a resident of West Tisbury, had worked for the Tisbury police department for 15 years. "He was very well liked on the department," said police chief John McCarthy. "Paul liked kids and kids got along well with him, It is rare to have someone in this line of work who never gets a complaint. Everyone seemed to like him."

Mr. Nichols' wife is a dispatcher for the county communications center. They have two elementary school children. A scholarship fund has been made up at the Martha's Vineyard Cooperative Bank for the children. There are already plans to dedicate the new flagpole erected this week at the Tisbury police station in memory of the officer.

Mr. Nichols set out on the Tisbury Great Pond in a borrowed 13-foot sea kayak Sunday afternoon. Sources tell the Gazette that Mr. Nichols had no prior kayak experience, though he had been in conversations with other enthusiasts for months about taking up the hobby.

The search for his body began at 6:30 p.m., after Mrs. Nichols drove to Quansoo, found her husband's car parked. But there was no sign of either her husband or the kayak. The weather that afternoon had changed from relatively mild to stormy in a short time.

Within moments of the emergency call, dozens of public safety officials and volunteers joined in the search. State environmental police Sgt. William L. Searle, who headed up the search effort, said he was sitting down to dinner with his wife, Linda, at the Square Rigger when the call came in. "I had just started eating my salad," the sergeant said. That ended the meal.

The West Tisbury fire station on the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road was turned into a command center. Minutes later, there was a meeting of Chilmark and West Tisbury police chiefs, together with West Tisbury fire chief Manuel Estrella. Weather conditions had deteriorated significantly. There were rough seas in Tisbury Great Pond; waves were two to three feet with white caps. It was considerably colder and raining heavily.

West Tisbury police chief Beth Toomey said Sgt. Skipper Manter and state police Sgt. Jeffrey Stone got into a boat and searched well into the night. Mr. Manter is knowledgeable about the pond. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter from Cape Cod Air Station. The helicopter carried a highly sophisticated search system on board, including a forward-looking radar.

The green and blue kayak was found Sunday at 7:50 p.m. at Long Point, land owned by The Trustees of Reservation. The paddle was found not far away, on the shore of the barrier beach to the ocean where there is oftentimes a cut to the sea.

"They worked well after 1 a.m.," said Sergeant Searle.

The search began in earnest again at 5:30 a.m. Monday. Word traveled quickly; more than 150 people showed up. Volunteer firemen arrived from all the towns. Policemen from all the Island departments showed up to volunteer their time. They were joined by emergency medical technicians who helped to support divers and assisted with phones at the command center.

Sergeant Searle also heads the Dukes County Emergency Management Search and Rescue Team. Other members of the state environmental police and state police arrived by early morning ferry. At the command post in the West Tisbury fire station, volunteers were interviewed, their blood pressure was taken and teams were put together. There was no age limit for the volunteers. Former West Tisbury police chief George Manter went out on a boat to participate in the search.

The Island chapter of the American Red Cross set up a snack bar and meal center. Local stores, including the Island's A&P, Cronig's, Cash and Carry donated hundreds of dollars worth of food. Citizens walked into the fire station carrying every kind of meal from kale soup to quahaug chowder.

Divers used Sepiessa Point and Flat Point Farm at Manter Point as their staging ground. As many as 29 divers were involved at one time and an equal number of support personnel to make sure they had the right gear. Six boats were involved. Divers came from Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. Members of the volunteer civil air patrol joined the search with flights above the pond.

Divers also arrived from Taunton, where Mr. Nichols grew up and has a large family. There were state police divers. Over 20 people from the Taunton fire and police departments and diving team participated in the search.

"I saw police officers from every department go out in the search. It was amazing to me, the number of people who responded," Sergeant Searle said. "There was a steady stream of resources. People came from all walks of life."

The body of Mr. Nichols was recovered in 12 to 15 feet of water at about 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. It was the last dive of the afternoon for the Oak Bluffs fire department team, according to fire chief Dennis Alley. The divers who made the find were Ken Davey and Willie deBettencourt. A life jacket was not found on the body. The water temperature in the pond was 41 degrees.

The body was brought ashore and taken to the Chapman Cole & Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.

Mr. Alley said there were 11 divers and 16 support people just in the Oak Bluffs team alone. The support services were carried out on the shore by deputy chief Ralph Norton. Assistant fire chief Pete Forend handled the dive operations from the water. The search technique involved dragging the divers by line underwater attached to boards.

Police chief Toomey said she was deeply impressed by the community support offered in the search. "There were people from all walks of life that tried to search in very difficult environment. This all came together very well under tense conditions. We were driven to do whatever we possibly could do." Members of Mr. Nichols' family were participants in the effort.

With the search over, attention shifted to the circumstances that lead to the accident.

Police chief McCarthy said that Mr. Nichols had only a limited history of experience with canoes. "As far as we know he had no experience with kayaks. He was really interested in that becoming a hobby. A couple of friends of his were encouraging him. There were discussions about kayaking and safety."

On Sunday, Mr. Nichols borrowed a kayak from one of his friends at the police station, with the understanding that because the weather was not good, he would wait until his day off on Tuesday to go out on Tisbury Great Pond, said the chief. "Reading material was given to him on the day he picked up the borrowed kayak, midmorning," the chief said. "There was some discussion that maybe it wasn't a great day."

Mr. Nichols took the borrowed kayak and put it on a borrowed rack. Chief McCarthy said: "The understanding was that between then and Tuesday, there was going to be other equipment loaned, including a flotation device.

"Paul had a lot of knowledge about Quansoo. He used the beach to sunbathe and read there. He was familiar with the area. His experience on the water was very limited."

As serene as the 800-acre Tisbury Great Pond may appear on a warm sunny day, it has been the scene of drownings in the past. David C. Nielsen, 38, of West Tisbury and Somers drowned in November of 1997 while fishing near the great pond opening. Louis R. Toscano, 49, of Oak Bluffs, a highly regarded math teacher at the regional high school, drowned in July of 1995 while swimming near the opening.

This week, members of the Tisbury Police Relief Association agreed to dedicate the newly installed flag pole in the memory of the lost officer. A scholarship has been set up at the Martha's Vineyard Cooperative Bank for Sarah and Kevin Nichols, both elementary school children. Contributions should be made out to the bank; the fund was started by the police relief association.

An Island service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18 at St. Augustine's Church in Vineyard Haven. The service begins at 10 a.m.

A wake will be held at the Crappo Hathaway Funeral Home in Taunton on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11 and 12 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The funeral service will be held at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Bay Street, in Taunton, on Monday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. A graveside service and burial will follow at the St. Joseph Cemetery, which is two miles from the church.

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