Agencies are searching the Niagara River gorge for three waterfall victims

October 30 – New York State Police and State Park Police conduct a grim search for the bodies of a Falls woman and her two young children after all three plunged to their apparent deaths in what investigators are calling an incident that was “intentionally in nature’. .”

State Police troopers were dispatched to Goat Island along with Park Police officers Monday around 9 p.m. to investigate eyewitness reports of a woman and two children going into the Niagara River rapids at the edge of the falls.

“This is a small area near the top of the falls where we believe they went in,” Trooper James O’Callaghan, a state police public information officer, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “The circumstances under which that happened, that’s the part that we may be able to solve or may never know. We won’t go into what the witnesses saw because it is still an active case, but what they told us is alarming. “

O’Callaghan and other law enforcement sources also said the incident was captured on video by surveillance cameras in the state park and near the edge of the falls.

Authorities identified the victims as Chaianti Means, 33, of the Falls and her son Roman Rossman, 9, and her daughter Mecca Means, 5 months.

On Wednesday afternoon, drones and Park Police marine units searched the lower gorge of the Niagara River in an attempt to recover the victim’s bodies. They were assisted by an underwater recovery unit and a state police helicopter.

Falls police also reportedly assisted in the investigation.

“We started with the little information we had and throughout the night and (Tuesday) we came to the conclusion that a 33-year-old mother, a 9-year-old son and a five-month-old child all went over the falls,” said O’Callaghan: “We believe this was intentional, but the circumstances of what actually happened are under investigation. They certainly went there that night and none of them have returned was, but the reason why is a more difficult answer.”

O’Callaghan said investigators believe Rossman went into the water first. He said afterward, “It was a ripple effect.”

The officer said the five-month-old child then entered the water, followed by her mother. When asked if Means might have been chasing the children, O’Callaghan said bluntly: “No, we think it was intentional.”

Investigators said Means and the children went over a three- to four-foot safety railing to enter the water.

“It’s not so much the height, but the terrain is very deadly,” O’Callaghan said.

He said detectives from the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation thoroughly investigated the incident.

“We had to get families involved and schools involved. We had to gather a lot of information,” O’Callaghan said. “We need a search warrant to search some houses to find out if we can get some information, some kind of preliminary plan.”

The state police spokesman said the fathers of both of Means’ children have been “very cooperative.”

“We are very progressive with information,” O’Callaghan said. “As a result, we have been able to accelerate this research considerably.”

Investigators said they are still investigating whether mental health issues may have played a role in the incident. O’Callaghan said no criminal charges are expected as a result of the state police investigation.

Maj. James Hi, the Parks Police commander for Western New York, said his officers will remain focused on recovery efforts.

“Our Swift Water Rescue Team is in the canyon on the water in the areas where they can be,” Hi said. “The pool right below the falls, we can dock a ship there and continue down the river around Fort Niagara. Upstream to the Power Vista we search the water and shoreline. Our thoughts go out to the family.

“Many of those working on this have children at home, so it hits you.”