Coast Guard calls off search for missing swimmer in Long Beach

Witnesses say man entered ocean on Sunday night and did not return

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After the Long Beach Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard spent hours searching for a missing swimmer — who reportedly entered the water at Franklin Boulevard beach on Sunday night and did not resurface — the units called off the operation Monday morning with negative results.

Two witnesses on the beach reported seeing a man enter the ocean just to the east of the jetties at Franklin Boulevard at 9:57 p.m., according to Long Beach Fire Commissioner Scott Kemins, and stated that they never saw him come out of the water.

The Long Beach Fire Department Water Rescue Unit, as well as off-duty members of the Long Beach Lifeguard Patrol, began a full-scale search and rescue operation in response to the eyewitness account, Kemins said. They scanned the water between Neptune and Lincoln boulevards for about 90 minutes, he added.

“We were never 100 percent sure somebody was actually still in the water,” Kemins said, “but with the credible witness account, we were obligated to commence the search and rescue operation.”

Members of the Long Beach Police Department and Oceanside Fire Department Water Rescue Team assisted in the effort, and boats from the Coast Guard, Atlantic Beach Rescue Unit, and Lawrence-Cedarhurst and Freeport fire departments surveyed the waters. Nassau County and New York City Police also assisted with helicopters.

After approximately two hours, all land operations were ceased and the recovery effort was turned over to the Coast Guard, Kemins said. They continued the search early Monday morning before calling it off at about 9 a.m., suspecting that it could have been a false alarm.

The witnesses described the man as white, approximately 6-feet-tall and 180 pounds, and wearing just shorts, Kemins said. No missing persons report has been filed.

“We’re just hoping that whoever went in did come out under their own power and that these people just didn’t see him,” Kemins said.

The Herald will update this story.