The woman who jumped off the Hale Boggs Bridge Thursday evening has been identified as Debbie Johnson, of Destrehan.
According to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, police received a call at 6:43 p.m. that Johnson’s vehicle was stopped in the emergency lane on top of the bridge. A witness told authorities that she saw Johnson, 55, exit the car, run to the railing and jump into the water below.
The body was recovered last night from the river near Ama.
This is the fourth time someone has jumped off of the Hale Boggs Bridge in less than a year.
Last September, a disabled man parked at the top of the bridge and used a wheelchair to get to the bridge’s railing. After he hoisted himself onto the railing, an officer tried to talk him down for several minutes, but the man eventually jumped into the water.
Last October, 20-year-old Gretna resident Jake Bodden jumped off of the Hale Boggs.
His body was recovered by family members four days later.
Jack Culotta, who was the managing partner of The Culotta Law Firm, jumped off the bridge last month. His body was pulled out of the river near the ADM Growmark grain elevator.
A witness saw Culotta pull over his white Ford Explorer at the top of the bridge, exit the SUV and jump over the railing without any hesitation.
I have been looking for a classmate from way back by this name and the age is right, hope it was not her.