Woman Sits In Jail As Crews Search Hudson River For Missing Fiancee's Body
BANNERMAN ISLAND, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The search for a missing kayaker intensified on Friday as his former fiancee spent her first weekend in jail after being accused of his murder.
CBS2's Lou Young was on hand as the search effort unfolded on a picturesque stretch of the Hudson River north of New York City.
A state police helicopter hovered over Bannerman Island in the Hudson searching for clues in the unusual murder investigation without a body or a clear motive.
The old munitions storage site, styled to look like a castle, was the destination for a pair of kayakers, two-weeks-ago an engaged couple.
Vincent Viafore is missing. Angelika Graswald has been charged with his murder.
Police boats continued to drag sonar scanners in the search for a body.
Locals on the stretch of river south of the Beacon-Newburgh Bridge, know it isn't easy.
"We have actually a tide coming in and out. People jump off the bridge and rescue crews when they go to find them don't know whether to go upstream or downstream," Janelle Crispyn said.
Bannerman Island is close to the Dutchess County side of the river but is accessible only by water. Access is cut off by the Metro North tracks that run along the bank. The kayakers entered the water on the Orange County side of the river.
"There's a water temperature it should be at to kayak from my understanding. This might've been a little cold," Brian McDonald said.
It was cold, and windy, and late in fading light. Police will not confirm it, but Angelika Graswald told reporters she was arrested for tampering with her fiancée's kayak.
For people familiar with kayaking, it seems unlikely.
"It's a simple little boat," Darlen Forbes said.
Members of Graswald's family were expected to arrive soon from Latvia to help organize her defense.
Police are anxious to find the victim's body before it's time to take the case to a grand jury.
State police have asked anyone who visited Plum Point Park in New Windsor on Sunday April, 19, between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. to contact them.