Man dies in bridge plunge

A man plunged to his death early last Saturday morning, jumping off the Mid-Delaware Bridge at Matamoras in an apparent suicide. Matamoras Chief of Police Eric Stewart said that the 40-year-old man, later identified to be Kenneth Banse of Westtown, N.Y., stopped his truck on the bridge at about 7:20 a.m., according to an eye-witness account. He left no notes or messages. Banse hit the frozen-over river and, according to the Pike County Coroner’s office, died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. No autopsy was ordered, and toxicology reports are expected in about six weeks. Matamoras, Westfall, Mill Rift and Milford firefighters responded to the scene and recovered the body. Banse was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:42 a.m. (Photo by Nicholas Troiano)