Update: Police Call Off Marine Search for Missing Swimmer
Update, August 19, 5:45 p.m.: East Hampton Town police have ended the marine search for the missing swimmer, whom was identified Wednesday evening as Bryon Dong Ha Kim of Brooklyn.
The 23-year-old disappeared after getting caught in a rip current while swimming with friends on Tuesday around 12:15 p.m.
An extensive search was conducted until nightfall on Tuesday and a recovery effort continued Wednesday morning. Members of the East Hampton Town police dive unit, the town Marine Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard’s aviation unit out of Cape Cod, the Suffolk County police aviation unit, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s marine unit and the East Hampton Ocean Rescue squad all assisted in the search of the area Kim went missing, in front of Windward Shores Ocean Resort.
Marine Patrol will continue to search the shoreline with four-wheel drive and all-terrain vehicles.
Update, August 19, 7:10 a.m.: The search for the swimmer, who went missing in the ocean waters off Napeague Tuesday afternoon, has resumed this morning. The search was temporarily suspended on Tuesday night after dark.
Divers and members of the East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad were back out on the water Wednesday at 6 a.m., running grid-pattern searches between Amagansett and Montauk.
The 23-year-old New York City man disappeared in rough surf, while swimming with friends in front of the Windward Shores Ocean Resort Tuesday afternoon at about 12:15 p.m. His name has not yet been released.
Police believe he and another man may have gotten caught in a rip current. The other man, also 23, was pulled from the water, unconscious, but was alert and oriented on the way to the hospital.
Update, August 18, 9 p.m.: The search for the missing swimmer was suspended as night fell on Napeague. Divers searched all afternoon and evening for the 23-year-old New York City man who disappeared in rough surf, while swimming with friends in front of the Windward Shores Ocean Resort Tuesday at about 12:15 p.m.
The search will resume Wednesday morning.
Update, August 18, 3:10 p.m.: The swimmer missing in the ocean waters in front of the Windward Shores Ocean Resort is a 23-year-old New York City man, East Hampton Town police said.
Captain Chris Anderson said the man was swimming with friends in the ocean at a beach when witnesses reported two men appeared to be struggling while swimming in the surf before being pulled under. One of the men, also 23, went unconscious but was pulled from the water. Captain Anderson did not know who pulled him out.
There are no lifeguards at that beach, Anderson confirmed. The men were not guests at Windward Shores, he added.
The man who was rescued regained consciousness. He was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital for evaluation and was reported to be conscious and alert.
A multi-agency search has been underway for nearly three hours. It includes police divers, the East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad, a Coast Guard HC-144 aircraft based in Cape Cod and the Suffolk County police aviation unit.
“We’ll certainly continue the search as long as we can safely and practically deploy all the personnel from the various different agencies,” Anderson said.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police believe the men were pulled out by a rip current. Anderson said he does not know how much experience the men had as swimmers.
The National Weather Service issued a warning about dangerous rip currents at 12:22 p.m. It is in effect until 9 p.m.
Originally, August 18, 1 p.m.: A search is underway for a missing swimmer who may have gotten caught in a rip current off Napeague.
On Tuesday at 12:15 p.m., the East Hampton Town police and East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad received a report of two swimmers in distress at the 27A beach access sign, in front of the Windward Shores, an oceanfront resort on Napeague between Amagansett and Montauk.
The caller lost sight of one of the swimmers a few minutes later.
By 12:25 p.m., one swimmer was reportedly out of the water just south of the beach access sign. First responders reported the swimmer was conscious and being given oxygen.
The other swimmer, a man, was deemed missing in what was described to rescuers as a rip current that may have pulled him out.
Members of the volunteer ocean rescue squad were conducting a grid search in the waters with Jet Skis. Divers were also called to search the waters.
A Suffolk County police helicopter was searching from above, arriving on scene at about 12:55 p.m. A Coast Guard fixed-wing aircraft was also responding.
The ocean beaches upgraded to a yellow flag, which indicates potentially high surf or dangerous currents and undertows, at about 12:45 p.m. Swimmers should exercise extreme caution in yellow flag conditions.
The National Weather Service issued a rip current statement for Suffolk County ocean beaches at 12:22 p.m. “Life-threatening rip currents are likely for all people entering the surf zone,” the weather service said. It is in effect until 9 p.m.
The Amagansett and Montauk Fire Department’s are also on scene.
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