East Hartford Police Identify Body Found in Connecticut River at Middletown

East Hartford Police spokesperson Sgt. Michael DeMaine tells Middletown Patch man whose was body found in the Connecticut River between Wilcox Island and the Middletown shoreline on Aug. 3 has been identified.

Daniel Persaud, 26, of East Hartford was identified through dental records, according to DeMaine. 

He went into the water at midnight on Dec. 14, 2012, in East Hartford and his death was declared an accidental drowning.

"There was nothing suspicious about it," DeMaine says.

According to WTNH, Persaud was walking with friends near the East Hartford boat launch when he fell into the river. In hopes of pulling him out, Persaud's friends tried to reach him with a branch as he floated away, according to the Hartford Courant.

As far as any connection to the discovery a month ago on the East Hampton-Portland line when a St. Clements Castle maintenance worker found human remains along the Connecticut River bank.

Drownings are not uncommon in the Connecticut River. Another man lost his life when he fell into the river and drowned on Aug. 3 in Essex, Lohud.com is reports. On Aug. 6, the body of Richard S. Cianflone, of Valhalla, N.Y., was pulled from the Connecticut River near Essex Island Marina, Lohud reports. 

Cianflone was reported missing after attending the annual lobster festival at the Griswold Inn with a friend, The Middletown Press reported. 

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