By Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com on July 17, 2016 at 7:11 PM, updated July 17, 2016 at 9:18 PM
AVON-BY-THE-SEA — A body found by divers just offshore on Sunday has been identified as a 17-year-old Westfield boy missing since Saturday, police said.
The boy, Jeffrey Hoens, was identified visually by the medical examiner based on the photograph on his driver's license, which he had left in his car, said Chief Terrence Mahon of the Avon-by-the-Sea Police Department.
Mahon said the boy's parents had been in Avon from their home in Westfield and were notified Sunday afternoon soon after their son's identity was confirmed.
Mahon said the cause of death would be determined by an autopsy.
Hoens was a rising senior at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, where he played goalie for the hockey team. He also played varsity rugby.
The ANSWER dive team found the body at the base of a bridge in Shark River, in the channel, an area of significant depth, Mahon said.
Police and the Coast Guard had searched for the boy by boat and helicopter since Saturday, before locating his body on Sunday.
Mahon said the boy had been diving and spear fishing when he went missing in the Shark River Inlet. No spear was found, Mahon said.
"We didn't find anything with him," Mahon said.
Friends stunned by the loss took to Twitter to post messages of remembrance.
http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2016/07/body_found_in_avon-by-the-sea_is_idd_as_missing_te.html
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