WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Contact 5 has obtained the frantic call for help made by a witness moments after the Royal Park Bridge in West Palm Beach opened, killing a 79-year-old womancrossing it with her bicycle in February.
In the telephone call, released Tuesday by West Palm Beach police, the witness described how he tried to save the victim, Carol Wright.
"She was in the middle of the bridge when the bridge is standing up," the caller told a 911 dispatcher. "I was, like, with my skateboard, and I saw her. When I saw her, she was straight up. I think she fell out. I don't know if she's still alive."
The caller, who was on his way to work, told dispatchers he watched Wright fall.
"Yeah, she fell off," he said. "I'm going to my work, so I saw her. She was falling off."
The span where Wright died belongs to the Florida Department of Transportation and is manned by bridge tenders from Florida Drawbridges Inc.
As Contact 5 first reported last month, a search warrant we reviewed showed investigators wanted to see outgoing and incoming calls and text messages on the bridge tender's phone.
Detectives also wanted to see all images on the phone as well as the web search history.
The bridge tender, who we're not naming, has not been charged with a crime.
However, a search warrant reviewed by Contact 5 shows police are investigating the bridge tender for manslaughter by culpable negligence.
The 911 call ended with the dispatcher saying she will call the bridge tender.
The Florida Department of Transportation has not released details of the incident, which remains under investigation.
Contact 5 started investigating bridge tenders after Wright's death.
Documents obtained by Contact 5 show Palm Beach County terminated eight bridge tenders over the last five years, including one for sleeping with pillows and a bed sheet while on duty at a Jupiter bridge.
A Lantana bridge tender was among those fired after surveillance video from the Ocean Avenue Bridge in October showed the drawbridge begin to raise while a car was still on it.
Contact 5 also uncovered another video of a bicyclist clinging onto the Parker Bridge in North Palm Beach in November 2020.
