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Missing N.H. teen may have been swept into storm drain, police say

NASHUA, N.H. --  Authorities in Nashua are searching local rivers and the city’s underwater storm drain system for a teenage boy who may have been swept into an open drain during a heavy rain storm.

Police said they received a citizen report Friday night about the open storm drain and some personal items on the ground nearby. The heavy water flow prevented authorities from determining if someone had fallen in.

On Saturday, the father of 16-year-old Jacob Goulet told police he had not seen or heard from his son since the night before when Jacob left a friend’s house to walk home during the storm. His parents searched for him throughout the night but didn’t find him.

Police said video surveillance confirmed that Jacob, a student at Nashua North High School, had with him the personal items that were found and that he was walking in the area of the storm drain. 

Police determined the personal items left on the ground belonged to Goulet. Surveillance video shows Goulet in the area near the stormdrain, which is part of the route he would have taken to get home, CBS Boston reports

Nashua Police are searching the Nashua River, the Merrimack River and the entire underwater storm drain system.  Goulet’s uncle Darren Blouin returned to the area Saturday night to join the search.

“Just came to back track his steps,” Blouin said. “It’s cold, it’s wet, if he’s stuck maybe I can find him.”

Goulet is a student at Nashua North High School. Police have described him as a white male, 5’8” tall, 200 lbs., black hair cut short on the sides and long along the top of his head, and blue eyes.  Goulet was last seen wearing a denim vest with metal studs on it, gray t-shirt, black shorts and black Converse All Star sneakers.

The Nashua Police Department is overseeing a search that includes the Nashua River, the Merrimack River and the city’s storm drain system. Police are being assisted by the fire department and its dive team, public works employees and members of the state Fish and Game department.

Authorities said the search could take an extended period of time.

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