New River Gorge Bridge: Human Remains Found In 18-Year-Old Cold Case, Police Believe
New River Gorge park rangers discovered human remains of a man missing for nearly two decades. On Thursday, the remains of Robert Kovak were discovered beneath the West Virginia bridge.
Robert Kovak went missing on September 19, 1998. His mother, Jacqueline Kovak, attempted to reach him for three days before she contacted West Virginia State Police to help her find her son. Kovak was a Virginia Tech student from the Blacksburg area, according to the Montgomery Herald.
The bones believed to belong to the man who went missing 18 years ago near the New River Gorge Bridge are currently being examined by forensic experts. Kovak’s Geo Tracker was found near Fayetteville, West Virginia, at the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and Lansing Road not long after he was reported missing, WOWK TV reports.
@WVStatePolice find remains found under the New River Gorge Bridge. https://t.co/XcgY7SqfmLpic.twitter.com/ceENWxxeH6
— WVNS 59News (@WVNS59News) March 11, 2016
Robert Kovak was just 25-years-old when he suddenly disappeared. An investigation into the cold case remains ongoing. While the humans remains found at the New River Gorge Bridge are currently presumed to belong to the Virginia Tech student, it could take weeks for confirmation. The details surrounding Kovak’s death still remain a mystery. The review of the bones could shed some light on how the young man died.
Repairs began on the New River Gorge Bridge on March 8. The construction work is slated to run through the middle of October. Work crews will be conducting parapet and bridge deck work during this time. The repairs were deemed necessary on both the northbound and southbound right lanes, according to statements by the West Virginia Department of Transportation to the Montgomery Herald.
During the bridge repair work, the slow lanes on the right side of the bridge will be closed. Maximum lane width during the construction work will be just under 15 feet. Whether or not the work is completed, the annual Bridge Day celebration will go on as scheduled on October 15.
Human remains found under New River Gorge Bridgehttps://t.co/6Jk4vYXr3Fpic.twitter.com/wQxZKtPIrp
— WVVA News (@WVVA) March 11, 2016
The New River Gorge is about 345 million years old. That makes it the top contender for being the first river in North America.
The New River Gorge is a massive and very rugged area. It is between 700 and 1,300 feet deep, according to the Official Bridge Day website. Unlike the many gorges around the world, which were carved out by glaciers, the West Virginia gorge was formed completely by erosion. The popular ecotourism area boasts extremely steep walls, enormous boulders, and an exposed cliff at the rim of the gorge.
The river is also a steep waterway. The drop in elevation along the New River creates the whitewater, which attracts tens of thousands of people to the area for rafting excursions.
About 85 miles of the river is in West Virginia. The northward flowing river bisects the Appalachian mountain range and separates the north from the south along its path.
The annual Bridge Day event celebrates all of the outdoor pursuits the New River offers. Outdoor adventure weddings have now also become a popular event for visitors.
Construction on the New River Gorge Bridge began in June of 1974 and took three years to finish, the Bridge Walk website notes. It cost about $37 million to build the bridge. The West Virginia bridge opened to traffic on October 22, 1977. Because the bridge was built with an arch design and due to the immense depth of the gorge, both cables and trolleys were used to transfer the steel needed for construction across the waterway.
[Image via Shutterstock.com]
