TROY, N.Y. -- Helicopters overhead and divers in the water -- all trying to find a dock worker who fell into the Hudson River around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Troy Public Information Officer David Dean said, "The dockmaster was placing the docks in the water for the boating season, and he was being assisted by two gentlemen. One of those gentlemen fell into the water."
As family members looked on hoping for the best, State Police and Albany County dive teams began the desperate search for Ron Marotta, 38, of Schenectady.
NYSP Diver Tim Hard said, "You wouldn't stand much of a chance in water this cold. Number one, hypothermia's going to set in very quick, you're going to lose your strength very quick, and you're not going to be able to pull yourself up, you're not going to be able to swim, and you're going to succumb very quickly."
The teams searched the river near the Troy dock for about two hours, battling limited visibility and debris-filled water, in the hopes of finding the Schenectady man.
A Schenectady man fell into the Hudson River while loading docks in Troy. After about two hours of searching, crews recovered his body about 25 feet down. Ken Jubie has the details.
Hard said, "It's cold, it's murky. I mean, 22 feet, 25 feet of water, about a half a foot to a foot of visibility, and a fast-moving current."
Then, at around 1:30 p.m., a diver found Marotta's body stuck to some sort of branch, about 25 feet down at the bottom of the river, just a short distance from where he fell in.
Police said Marotta was not wearing a life vest when he fell into the river and they're not sure exactly what cause him to fall into the water in the first place. They are trying to determine if he hit his head during the hall or if he had a medical condition that contributed to the incident. The investigation continues.