Man found in waters off Wantagh Park

Police are investigating the death of a 66-year-old man whose body was found in the waters off of Wantagh Park on Thursday.

Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department, said officials were not releasing the man's name as of press time Friday. The Nassau County Marine Bureau was called to assist the Town of Hempstead bay constable at 11 a.m. after an unoccupied 19-foot boat was found near Big Crow Island and Broad Creek Channel — which lie south of Bellmore and Wantagh — according to detectives. When they arrived on the scene, they found the man submerged in the water, unconscious.

The man was pronounced dead at 1:10 p.m. by an NCPD medic and transported to the Nassau County Morgue. LeBrun noted that the circumstances of the man's death are still under investigation.

In a press release issued Friday afternoon, police noted that there is no apparent criminality. LeBrun told the Herald Citizen that the man had set out to go clamming earlier in the day.

Cops were on the scene at Wantagh Park for about two hours on Thursday. LeBrun noted that although the investigation is ongoing, no particular waterways or portions of the park were expected to be closed to the public.