Woman Last Seen Jumping into Merrimack River May Be Alive

MANCHESTER, NH - A week after a woman fled from Hillsborough County Sheriff Deputies and jumped in the Merrimack River, authorities say she may be alive.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says that there have been reported sightings of Elise Poirier in the Manchester area. Detectives working on the case consider the information credible and are actively pursuing additional leads in an attempt to locate her.

Poirier is known to have strong ties to Manchester’s homeless community and could be in any of the multiple locations where the homeless community gathers or live.

On June 29th Elise Poirier, who was born in 1995, had warrants, and as Sheriff Deputies spoke to her she fled from them and jumped into the Merrimack River near the Foundry restaurant. The warrants were for fentanyl possession, falsifying physical evidence, and failure to appear in Rockingham County Superior Court according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff.

When Poirier jumped in the river, witnesses said she was seen on her back in the middle of the river and was last seen south of the Granite Street Bridge when witnesses lost sight of her.

The high water levels in the river from consecutive days of heavy rain brought challenges to the crews searching. Fish & Game Lt. Adam Cheney said they would not put divers in due to the current — unless something was found using the other search tools. Several methods were used for searching, including drones, boats, jet skis, drones, side scan sonar radar, and underwater cameras.

After searching for several hours the evening of her disappearance and the day after the search was called off due to the high water levels in the river from consecutive days of heavy rain which brought challenges to the crews searching.

The Sheriff’s Office asks that If you see Poirier, or someone who resembles Poirier, please contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center at (603) 627-0169.

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news