TURNERS FALLS — The man who drowned in the Connecticut River near Migratory Way on Saturday evening has been identified by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office as 21-year-old Worcester resident Hermes Mariano Almonte Villar.
Turners Falls Fire Chief Luke Hartnett previously said the victim was swimming with others at the Rock Dam, about a quarter-mile walk from Migratory Way, when he went underwater and failed to resurface. Hartnett explained that a Montague Police Department dispatcher received a “frantic” call just before 6 p.m. and the victim died despite first responders’ efforts to revive him with CPR.
According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, there is no indication of foul play, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death.
Hartnett had described the incident as an all-hands-on-deck situation, drawing a response from his department, the Montague Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Gill Police Department, the Northfield Dive/Rescue Team and the Greenfield Fire Department. Additionally, the Bernardston Fire Department provided station coverage in Greenfield and the Montague Center Fire Department covered the Turners Falls station.
The greatest challenge, Hartnett had said, was reaching Villar while fighting the river’s strong current.
“One of our big warnings is that people should avoid swimming in the river because of the undertow,” Hartnett said, noting how much the divers experienced being pulled by the current themselves. “On top, it may seem like docile water.
“Without life jackets and protective equipment, people should not be swimming in the river,” he emphasized.
CPR was administered after first responders reached Villar and got him to shore. According to Hartnett, Villar was taken by American Medical Response ambulance, with CPR continuing during transport, to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Hartnett noted that this isn’t the first time someone has drowned at this location off Migratory Way. Welman Hernandez-Diaz, 35, of Worcester, drowned in the Connecticut River in the area of the Rock Dam in Turners Falls in August 2020.
