WESTBROOK – The man pulled from the Presumpscot River in Westbrook last week after an intensive search was identified Tuesday as 35-year-old Christopher Jehlicka of Westbrook.

According to police Capt. Michael Nugent, no further information is available, pending a report from the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

At around 1:10 p.m. Aug. 21, a dive team pulled a body from the river after a search that lasted more than three hours and included a Maine Warden Service search plane and multiple rescue and dive teams.

In a press release shortly after, Nugent said the victim was a 35-year-old Westbrook man who was reported to have gone into the water at about 9:10 a.m.

“The body was recovered a short distance downstream from Saccarappa Falls where he had last been seen,” he said.

The search included Westbrook police, fire and rescue units, assisted by units from the Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the Standish, Gorham and Scarborough fire departments.

Early reports indicated that Jehlicka went into the river in the vicinity of Mill Lane. According to Nugent, shortly thereafter, he was seen going over Saccarappa Falls before going out of sight.

An eyewitness, Jim Peterson, said he saw a man floating just under Saccarappa Falls around 9 a.m., and he pointed out his location to emergency crews, who were already on scene.

Peterson, a Portland resident who works in Westbrook, said the man went under the Bridge Street bridge, and was nearly recovered by a fire-rescue member, who failed to reach him in the current.

By 11:30 a.m. a search plane piloted by the Maine Warden Service was circling the river, and Westbrook residents lined the riverwalk behind downtown businesses, watching the search unfold. A rescue dog was also brought in to assist, and aided divers in locating the area where Jehlicka was eventually found.

Following the incident, Peterson said that although the end result was unfortunate, “I can’t express my respect enough, to the Westbrook police, fire and rescue, Maine Warden Service and all those, who literally put their lives on the line today and everyday.”

A rescue dive team recover a body from the Presumpscot River in Westbrook last Thursday afternoon. On Tuesday, police identified the man as 35-year-old Christopher Jehlicka. A police press release said Jehlicka drowned, but the circumstances of how he entered the river remain unclear.