A body has been found in the area near where a New York man disappeared after attending the annual Lobster Feast in Essex over the weekend.
State police have not positively identified the person found on Monday, but believe it is Richard Cianflone, 29, of Valhalla, New York, who was reported missing on Saturday night,
State police said they received a call from a Port Chester, New York man reporting that his friend, Cianflone, was missing.
The two men were in Essex for the lobster feast and ended up at the Griswold Inn with several friends. That is where Cianflone, known as Ricky, was when he was last seen around 11 p.m. on Saturday, state police said.
Cianflone‘s cell phone company determined through a “ping” that his cell phone was just off the shore between Rackett Lane and Benson Lane in Essex as of 11:18 p.m.
The state police dive team searched the Essex South Cove, Connecticut River and the Essex Marina by boat and Troop F Major Crime detectives conducted interviews.
The State Police K-9 unit conducted tracks from Cianflone's vehicle, but did not find anything. The dive team and K-9 teams resumed the search this morning.
Some of Cianflone‘s family members made the trip to be in Connecticut as police continue the search.
State Police also sent a reverse 911 call to Essex residents to alert them that Cianflone missing and provided a description: 5-feet-6 and around 170 pounds, with a medium-stocky build, brown hair and hazel eyes.
He was wearing blue jeans, a brown T-shirt and blue canvass Converse sneakers.
