Two members of the group made it safely out of the water, but the brothers did not. Tavaris Bulgin’s body was recovered around 6:30 Monday morning. State police divers returned Tuesday morning and searched the inlet and lake side of the bridge, but I didn’t find Tavaughn Bulgin, David Procopio, a state police spokesman, said in an e-mail. Get the Metro headlines Top 10 local news from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Crews then moved to the seaward side of the bridge to continue the search, but were “hampered by bad weather conditions that created dangerous conditions” and suspended the day’s search at 1 p.m., Procopio said. A vigil was held Monday night at the Palmers Cross Brethren community in the parish of Clarendon in south-central Jamaica, according to the Reverend Rhoan Parkins, a spokesman for the Bulgin family. Parkins said Tavaughn and Tavaris Bulgin were “community figures” and were active at Palmers Cross New Testament Church of God, where their father, the Reverend Keith Bulgin, serves as pastor. As the inquest continued Tuesday morning, Parkins asked for prayers for the Bulgin family and the wider community as they come to terms with the tragedy. “While the family is at the center of this, there are ripple effects around them,” he said in an interview Tuesday morning. “We hope people will say a prayer for the church and the community as they pray for the family.” The bridge was quiet during a stormy and overcast Tuesday afternoon. Flowers and a framed photo of the brothers were placed on the bridge in an area where people usually jump. Tuesday morning, officials said the environmental police were using side-scan sonar and state police divers had returned to the area in hopes of recovering the missing person. The brothers were seasonal workers at Nomans Restaurant in Oak Bluffs, according to a family spokesman and officials. The restaurant remained closed on Tuesday and the parking lot was empty. An Instagram post said it would likely reopen Wednesday. Nomans has the same owners as the popular harborside restaurant Nancy’s in Oak Bluffs. Nancy employees Tuesday morning said they did not want to discuss the tragedy. The brothers, the Bulgin family’s second and third children, also had two sisters, a family spokesman said. Hundreds of people gathered outside the family’s home in Clarendon throughout the day on Monday to mourn as news of the incident began to spread through the community. Parkins described an emotional scene outside the home and said the community was in “absolute shock” at the loss. “There was silence, shouting, mourning, people holding their heads, people falling to their feet — all the array of emotional distress was evident,” he said. “These young men were very promising and interacted extremely well with the community.” Parkins said Tavaughn Bulgin played keyboard for the church and helped set up the technology to stream services online, while Tavaris Bulgin served as Sunday School superintendent. Both brothers attended the University of Jamaica and studied business, he said. “They did themselves and their parents proud,” he said. On a typical summer day, dozens of people line the ocean side of the “Jaws” bridge waiting to jump into the water, despite “no diving or jumping” signs posted prominently on both ends. But Oak Bluffs Fire Chief Nelson Wirtz said the waters can be dangerous, especially for novice swimmers. He urged anyone who chooses to ignore safety warnings to wear a life jacket. Not long after authorities left the area following their investigation Monday, people returned to the bridge and began jumping into the fast-moving waters. State Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents Martha’s Vineyard, called the incident “truly tragic” for the communities in Massachusetts and Jamaica during a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon, but said he doesn’t know how to make the area safer . Posting state or local law enforcement on the bridge to crack down on the jump would be a misuse of limited police resources, he said. Instead, he said the focus should be on training the Cape and Islands’ increasingly international seasonal workforce. “This should be a reminder to our communities that everyone who lives in and visits our communities, but especially our seasonal workforce, [must have] some level of education or awareness of the dangers particularly of the marine environment,” Cyr said. “These waters are beautiful and hopefully pristine, but we shouldn’t take them for granted.” A jump off the Jaws Bridge is a summer tradition for many who visit the island, said Todd Rebello, who owns four T-shirt shops in Oak Bluffs. Among his inventory are shirts showing an image of people jumping off the bridge as a great white shark emerges from the water with its mouth wide open, along with a message that reads: “I jumped off the Jaws Bridge… and lived to tell for this.” The shirt was displayed in a storefront on the corner of Circuit Avenue on Tuesday. Rebello said he has no plans to take the shirts off his shelves. “It’s an 80-year tradition,” Rebello said of people jumping off the bridge. Nevertheless, he noted, people in Ampelonas are upset after the tragedy. “Everyone on the island is shocked,” he said. This is a developing story and will be updated. John R. Element can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Brittany Bowker can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @brittbowker and Instagram @brittbowker. Nick Stoico can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @NickStoico.
