The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Environmental Conservation Police have positively identified a body discovered in the Connecticut River as a missing Massachusetts man.
On May 9, 2026, just before 12:30 p.m., a vessel reported sighting a body in the Connecticut River near the Chester-Lyme Ferry.
EnCon Police and Connecticut State Police responded, as did the Lyme and Chester Fire Departments. The Chester Fire Department was able to locate and recover the body utilizing their fire vessel, where the subject was pronounced dead.
The person’s identity was not immediately revealed. EnCon investigators were able to match known records to an individual who had been reported missing in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts State Police were contacted, and they gave documents to the State Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The OCME positively recognized the individual as 63-year-old Donald Plasse of Holyoke, Mass.
Plasse disappeared on January 13, 2026, after an incident near the Mueller Bridge on Route 202 in South Hadley. Investigators from the EnCon Police are supporting the Massachusetts State Police’s investigations.
The DEEP Encon Police Department offered their sympathies to Plasse’s family and loved ones.
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