‘2 boys one time, Oh God,’ says dad of J’cans who jumped off US bridge Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Bulgin family is still trying to come to terms with the devastating loss of two brothers, 26-year-old Tavaris and 21-year-old Tavaughn Bulgin, in a tragic drowning incident in the US two days ago.

“Two boys one time, Oh God,” the boys’ father, Reverend Keith Bulgin, who is also the pastor at the Palmers Cross New Testament Church of God, told Loop News on Wednesday.

“I do everything for them. They were my boys, and they were so helpful. Tavaughn played keyboard in our praise and worship in the church, and Tavaris (the older brother) was the Sunday School superintendent, he was like a technological genius; he did the structure for the whole church….everything,” Reverend Bulgin said.

The brothers were part of a group that jumped off the infamous ‘Jaws Bridge that connects Edgartown to Oak Bluffs around 11pm on Sunday. Tavaris’ body was retrieved soon after, while the search is still on for the younger brother, who is presumed dead.

Jaws Bridge is said to be a popular tourist attraction on the island, and many people jump from it during the summer, despite a sign warning people against it.

The brothers were from Clarendon, Jamaica, and were working at a restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard as part of the popular summer work-and-travel programme, which provides employment opportunities for hundreds of university-age students from Jamaica each year.

They have two sisters.

On Tuesday morning, divers and other police units resumed the search for Tavaughn’s body, focusing on the side of the bridge bordering the inlet and pond, a state police spokesman told the Boston Globe. Police deployed side-scanning sonar technology Tuesday, which allows searchers to map the seafloor.

After failing to find Tavaughn Bulgin’s body Tuesday morning, crews worked their way back over to the bridge’s ocean side. But poor weather caused dangerous conditions, the spokesman said, and Tuesday’s search was suspended at 1 pm.

Going forward, weather conditions will be assessed on a day-by-day basis to determine whether it is safe to resume the search, an article in the Boston Globe reported a few hours ago.

By Claude Mills

NewsAmericasNow.com