It was a scary moment for someone who noticed a coat on the ice of the Barge Canal Sunday afternoon in Rome.

Oneida County Sheriff Maciol says, deputies were dispatched to the South James Street bridge for reports someone may have jumped or fell off the bridge.

Deputies say a person who noticed someone on the ice earlier in the day, later noticed an opening in the ice with a coat next to it.

A multi-agency investigation immediately commenced and it was determined by authorities nobody was in the water, but the person had simply left their coat behind.

The area of the South James Street Bridge was closed for over an hour during the course of the investigation.

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