Selden man missing after boat accident

A Selden man who washed overboard from a raft on the Upper Delaware River was still missing Monday after nearly three days of searching by rescue workers, according to local authorities and a newspaper report.

Officials did not release the man's identity. He was ejected from the rented raft in a stretch of narrows on the Upper Delaware River straddling the Pennsylvania state line near Port Jervis, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon. Sparrow Bush, just north of Port Jervis, is about 90 miles northwest of New York City.

Chief Scott Glynn of the Sparrowbush Engine Company said his members were among the rescue workers who had searched since Saturday afternoon.

"It's hard to work in that water," the chief told Newsday after his department completed its role in the search at midday Monday. "There has been more rain than normal. It's deeper than normal, and it clouds the water, less visibility."

He said the search was being handled by the National Park Service, which is responsible for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Officials at the park could not be reached, and the park service's Washington office did not respond to calls and emails for comment.

The Middletown Times Herald-Record reported that authorities told the paper that the 71-year-old Selden man wasn't wearing a life jacket.

The man's wife, who was wearing a life jacket, jumped in and tried unsuccessfully to help him before he sank in water about 51/2 feet deep, the newspaper said.