With sons in his arms, man dies in leap from bridge; boys survive

Associated Press

WANAQUE, N.J.

A man died after jumping off a highway bridge with his two toddler sons in his arms, yet the boys survived the 100-foot plunge into a wooded area and are expected to make a full recovery.

John Spincken was holding the boys, age 1 and 3, when he leaped from the Wanaque Bridge on Interstate 287 on Monday night, state police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene; the boys were found nearby, near the Wanaque River, police said.

“When the officers found the children conscious and alert, it was nothing short of a miracle, that’s for sure,” Pequannock Township police Capt. Christopher DePuyt said Tuesday.

Spincken’s actions appear a far cry from the smiling man who, on social media, called fatherhood the “best feeling in the world” and described the panic and then relief that washed over him moments after a health scare threatened his younger son’s life.

The incident began Monday night with a call from a friend of Spincken’s wife, who said Spincken had taken the toddlers and threatened to harm them. DePuyt says Spincken was tracked through his cellphone, and police found his unoccupied car on the bridge.

Spincken apparently climbed on top of his car and then scaled a 12-foot-high fence meant to prevent people from jumping off the bridge, DePuyt said.

Police believe tree branches helped cushion the boys’ fall.

The boys, whose injuries weren’t disclosed, were hospitalized in fair condition Tuesday.