Water search ongoing in Shark River Inlet for 17-year-old free diver
Authorities are searching the Shark River Inlet for a missing teenager.
According to a U.S. Coast Guard release, the 17-year-old free diver was reported missing in the inlet, which divides Belmar and Avon in Monmouth County.
The Coast Guard dispatched a 29-foot response boat-small rescue crew from Station Shark River and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Atlantic City after Belmar police notified the agency around 5 p.m.
Members of the Avon and Belmar police departments are also searching, the release said.
Social media postings indicate that the ANSWER Team, a local volunteer water rescue squad, and lifeguards are also assisting.
The Shark River Inlet is currently closed to maritime vessel traffic for the safety of search and rescue divers.
Coast Guard, police search for missing teen diver in Shark River Inlet
Toniann Antonelli July 16, 2016 7:37 PM
Crews from the Coast Guard are joining police in the search for a diver who went missing in the Shark River Inlet near Belmar Saturday.
According to a Coast Guard statement, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay were contacted by the Belmar Police Department late Saturday afternoon. Authorities said a 17-year-old “free diver” had gone missing around 5 p.m. in the Shark River Inlet, near Belmar, officials said.
A Coast Guard crew in a 29-foot Response Boat-Small from the Shark River station began searching the inlet as an air crew in an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was dispatched from Air Station Atlantic City to search from the air, according to a statement.
The Coast Guard said crews from the Avon-By-The-Sea and Belmar Police Departments are joining in the search as well.
“Shark River Inlet is currently closed to maritime vessel traffic for the safety of search and rescue divers on scene,” according to the Coast Guard statement.
Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.
Body found in Avon identified as missing Westfield teen
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.
BELMAR - The body of a missing 17-year-old boy from Westfield has been found in the Shark River Inlet, Mayor Matt Doherty confirmed on Sunday.
The teen, who has not been identified by authorities at this time, was last seen by friends diving or snorkeling in the area of the Shark River in Avon on Saturday afternoon.
Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press
Late in the evening on Saturday, authorities had recovered some of the teen's personal belongings. Authorities suspended recovery operations overnight but resumed the search for the teen on Sunday morning.
First responders from all over coastal Monmouth County were on the scene, searching the water for the missing boy. Additionally, the Coast Guard said it had deployed a 29-foot response boat with a small rescue crew from Station Shark River and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City to aid in the search.
Also searching are members of the Avon-By-The-Sea and Belmar police departments, which have local jurisdiction over each side of the river.
On Saturday night, the Shark River Inlet was closed to all civilian maritime vessel traffic for the safety of search and rescue divers looking for the teen, according to the Coast Guard. Kathy O'Keeffe, an Avon resident, was watching the rescue crews look for the missing teen from a sidewalk near Ocean and Washington avenues in her hometown. She expressed her concern for the fate of the boy and wondered aloud what anyone would be doing diving near the Shark River Inlet, where she said locals know how much maritime traffic is coming and going between the river and the Atlantic Ocean.
Moreover, the weather had turned stormy on Saturday afternoon. "It was beautiful earlier today, we were good until about three o'clock and a thunderstorm came in for about 15 minutes," O'Keeffe said. "Then about 4:30 or so, it let loose and we had a big storm."
Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com
AVON - A search was underway Saturday night in the area of the Shark River Inlet for a missing 17-year-old boy from Westfield, last seen diving or snorkeling by himself, according to authorities on the scene.
Late in the evening, authorities had recovered some of the teen's personal belongings. Authorities were expected to resume full recovery operations on Sunday morning.
Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press
First responders from all over coastal Monmouth County were on the scene, searching the water for the missing boy. Additionally, the Coast Guard said it had deployed a 29-foot response boat with a small rescue crew from Station Shark River and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City to aid in the search.
Also searching are members of the Avon-By-The-Sea and Belmar police departments, which have local jurisdiction over each side of the river.
On Saturday night, the Shark River Inlet was closed to all civilian maritime vessel traffic for the safety of search and rescue divers looking for the teen, according to the Coast Guard.
Kathy O'Keeffe, an Avon resident, was watching the rescue crews look for the missing teen from a sidewalk near Ocean and Washington avenues in her hometown. She expressed her concern for the fate of the boy and wondered aloud what anyone would be doing diving near the Shark River Inlet, where she said locals know how much maritime traffic is coming and going between the river and the Atlantic Ocean.
Moreover, the weather had turned stormy on Saturday afternoon.
"It was beautiful earlier today, we were good until about three o'clock and a thunderstorm came in for about 15 minutes," O'Keeffe said. "Then about 4:30 or so, it let loose and we had a big storm."
Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com
The NJ Dive Council has posted signs at Shark River Inlet, Manasquan Inlet and Maclearie Park (Belmar) with the diving rules, please obey them.
*** THIS FILE INCLUDES ALL REGULATIONS ADOPTED AND PUBLISHED THROUGH THE *** *** NEW JERSEY REGISTER, VOL. 47, NO. 3, February 2, 2015 *** TITLE 13. LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY CHAPTER 82. BOATING REGULATIONS SUBCHAPTER 3. OPERATIONAL REGULATIONS § 13:82-3.17 Diving and swimming
(a) General provisions with respect to diving and swimming are as follows:
1. Underwater diving with or without an underwater apparatus is permitted in all navigable waters in New Jersey unless otherwise prohibited in this section.
2. Any person while diving shall mark his or her position with a buoyed flag:
i. Such flag shall be displayed so that it is visible all around the horizon from a buoy, float, boat or other floating object;
ii. Such flag shall be a minimum of 14 inches by 16 inches, shall be rigid to enhance visibility and shall be a red background with a white diagonal stripe running from one corner to the other.
3. No person shall operate a vessel within 50 feet of the buoyed flag.
4. No person shall display a flag at times other than when diving is in progress.
5. No person shall swim or dive in a narrow, confined or improved channel or in a marked fairway, under a bridge, or impede, obstruct or interfere with passage of watercraft therein.
6. No diver shall surface more than 25 feet from the buoyed flag except in an emergency.
(Snip)
(d) Provisions for Shark River Inlet are as follows:
1. Underwater diving is permitted in the Shark River Inlet in that area which lies east of a line extending from the northwest end of A Street in Belmar to the southeast end of First Avenue in Avon.
2. Divers shall stay within 25 feet of the jetties and bulkheads in the area described.
3. A diver shall mark his or her position with a float and skin diver's flag.
4. No diver shall surface more than 15 feet from the buoyed flag except in an emergency.
5. No underwater diving shall be permitted in Shark River Inlet between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 5:30 P.M. during the period each year commencing May 1 terminating October 1.
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