HOLYOKE — Teams of emergency personnel were scouring the Connecticut River Tuesday in search of 27-year-old Niklas Delisle, who was carried away by the current Monday night after his kayak capsized.

Delisle was in a two-passenger kayak with his girlfriend, Mya Ballard, just south of the Vietnam Memorial Bridge that connects South Hadley to Holyoke.

When the couple’s boat flipped over, neither of them were wearing flotation devices, according to authorities and the family.

Ballard was rescued by a bystander who was on the Holyoke side of the shore. Once safe, she proceeded to notify family at 7:30 p.m., saying that her boyfriend was going under.

By 8 p.m., first responders had flooded the scene with a helicopter, thermal drones, and boats with flood lights and equipped with side-scan sonar for a four-hour period in search of Delisle, of Chicopee.

The search ended around midnight and resumed Tuesday morning. Depending on weather forecasts, the search will continue over the next few days, although storms expected Thursday and Friday may limit the search, said Capt. David Rex, a spokesperson for the Holyoke Fire Department.

The departments of communities along the river were recruited in the hunt that is taking place from the South Hadley Dam to Jones Ferry Road in Holyoke, with fire and police resources from Holyoke, Chicopee, South Hadley, Agawam, Springfield, West Springfield and the State Police pitching in.

Delisle is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 150 pounds, and was wearing white sweatpants and a brown Carhartt jacket at the time of the incident, Rex said.

“If he is found, you will see that Brown Carhartt jacket” he said.

Nevin Bastin, Delisle’s maternal uncle, received a call Monday night from Ballard after she had been rescued.

“Nick’s girlfriend called me. She was panicking,” he said, waiting with family at Jones Ferry Road on Tuesday morning as crews prepared to renew their search. “She had been rescued by a bystander — he was barely able to save her.”

After Ballard was on the shore, the bystander called around asking if anyone had a life preserver. No one did, since witnesses had just been fishing along the shore, said Bastin.

“They saw Nick floating about like, oh, 100 feet away from the Holyoke Dam, and they were on the Holyoke side. The last time they saw him was about two minutes later. They felt like he was already 400 feet away. And that’s the last time — they lost sight of him after that point,” he said.

Clearly holding back emotion, Bastin said, “I cannot stress enough please wear a life preserver.”

According to Rex, it is unlikely that Delisle is still alive given that the water temperature Monday night was 49 degrees and the air temperature was 50 degrees. He noted that the cold conditions of the water probably led to hypothermia soon after the incident.

The river’s current was also remarkably strong Monday and Tuesday, running at 15 to 20 knots at the surface, which is about 20 mph, instead of at 5 knots, Rex said.

As the search continues, “Here lies the biggest problem,” said Rex. “If he stayed on the surface for awhile and got kicked into the middle of the river, he could end up towards Agawam. The other issue is, if he gets snagged up on something, we could be all down here looking for him, but he is actually up north,” he said.

‘Hoping for the best’

Family was along the shore Tuesday as searches continued. Rex had just finished speaking with family members before he was interviewed by the press. He said that, “They’re hoping for the best. I think that whether it is a good or bad outcome, they just want the closure.”

The sister of Ballard, Emilie Luks, remembers Delisle as, “very nice, a gentleman, very respectful” in the few times she got to meet him.

According to her, Delisle and Ballard had been dating over a year, and had met online.

“My sister, every time she talks to me, says they’re out here fishing and catching things — and has she literally texted me, when are you going to come fishing with me and Nick and we can camp out?” she said.

On the Fourth of July last year, Luks remembers how her husband Jordan and Delisle struck up a conversation about hunting and being outside.

Mischa Roy, a family friend, said that Delisle comes from a somewhat large family.

“He’s definetely one of the shyer ones,” she said. “And he is really ambitious — he’s trying to build his own construction business. He’s even done a few projects for my family.”

Others missing

Instances of falls into the river are not uncommon, said Rex, some of them to rescue someone stranded on a kayak, or other times there are calls for more severe incidents such as what happened Monday.

“We probably get called a dozen times, maybe 16 times a year, where people get in the water,” he said.

Rex also said that Delisle is not the only missing person in the Connecticut River.

There is still a search for the body of Daniel Callahan of East Windsor, Connecticut, who wrecked a car on Walter Street in Chicopee close by the river earlier this year. He has yet to be found.

Additionally, the body of a missing man from Greenfield is believed to be somewhere in the Connecticut River for the last six months.

“So there’s potentially three, at least three bodies that we have in the water,” said Rex, adding that oftentimes the bodies are recovered after water levels change due to rain.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.