Community Corner

Groton Family Waited Near Bridge As Young Man Threatened Suicide

Christopher Goff jumped to his death from the Amtrak bridge on July 21

Christopher Casey Goff’s mother and brother were nearby when he died, waiting on the shore of the Thames River as police tried to save his life up on the Amtrak bridge.

Goff, who died last Thursday morning when he jumped from the bridge, was talking with a police negotiator on the bridge. Groton police were with the family. His mother and brother waited for nearly two hours, according to a neighbor of the family’s.

 “She didn’t get to talk to her son,” Lynn Martel said of Goff’s mother, Malissa Kersteid, of Groton. “She has no idea what they said or what he said.”

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Martel described a scene in which police called the family, who then rushed to the bridge and waited for word as the 20-year-old stood threatening to jump and talking to the negotiator.  The family was kept at a distance so they could not see him, Martel said.

She said a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat was in the water. Then, about the time the sun came up, Kersteid was told that negotiation failed and her son had jumped.

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“She cried for two solid days,” Martel said of Goff’s mother. “She’s only now having moments where she stops crying.”

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as suicide by asphyxia due to drowning.

Because the incident occurred on the bridge between New London and Groton, police departments from both municipalities were involved in investigating.  The New London Police Department described the young man’s death as a suicide in a press release issued on July 21. Groton Town Police initially said the death was “noncriminal in nature” and have issued no further statements.

Groton Police were first alerted to a potential problem after receiving a request to do a “well-being” check on the young man at around 2:23 a.m. on July 21, according to a press release issued last week. Police first saw him in the vicinity of Fairview Avenue, but he ran. Police caught up with him again on the bridge but were unable to stop him from plunging to his death sometime around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m.

Groton Lt. Steven Sinagra said he does not know the details of what occurred, but he said the family was not denied the chance to talk to Goff. Sinagra said it wasn’t possible because he was on the bridge and it would have been unsafe for them to climb.

Sinagra said there may have been other reasons why the family was kept at some distance; perhaps the negotiator did not want them to see him jump if he did, Sinagra said.

“Knowing that it happened is different than seeing it happen,” he said.

Goff graduated from Fitch High School in 2009 with high honors. He was the middle child of three siblings, and has a sister, age 16, and an older brother.

Through middle and high school, Goff was an honor student; he received the President Award for outstanding education excellence and was appointed to the national youth leadership program, according to his obituary. Most recently, he worked the overnight shift stocking shelves at the Groton Walmart, according to employees there.

Devin Brown, of Mystic, said he knew Goff in high school and kept in contact with him through a social networking website.

"He was a great, amazing guy," Brown said. "A great friend." Brown said Goff told him on two occasions he was exhausted, and he seemed distant during their last call. But Brown said he seemed otherwise all right.

"It was shocking to me because I had just talked to him a day or two before," Brown said.

Goff's family lives in Branford Manor, a federally subsidized housing complex. His mother works as a waitress, and her husband, a construction worker, helped raise Goff. Martel said Goff had been living on his own, and she described him as a kind, thoughtful young man.

Friends posted messages on Goff's Facebook account, saying they’d miss him, they were in shock, they were sorry he suffered.

“Casey Im sorry you were in so much pain,” Kimberly Dowdle wrote. “You just dont know how much you were loved. I understand God has another plan for you and it was your time to leave."

“idk man i cant seem to get over all this i miss u man,” wrote Berto Villa.

“As they lay u to rest today know that my heart is truely breaking and know that you are loved and will be missed by so many!!” said Wanda Frahm.

Brown set up a memorial fund at Chelsea Groton Bank on behalf of the family.  He said donations may be made at any bank branch, and donors should specify that the money is for the Casey Goff Memorial Fund. 

Family members and friends wrote on a memorial cross erected near the foot of the Gold Star Bridge, on the Groton side. A message is written in black magic marker.

It reads, “My dearest Casey, I am so sorry that I couldn’t bear your pain for u. I love you with every ounce of my soul. I’ll be counting the days till I see you again in heaven. There will never be a day, hour, minute or second that I will not be thinking of you. Take care of gramma till I get there. I’ll miss you forever. Be happy. Be peaceful. Love, Mom.”


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