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The body of a teenage boy was found Tuesday in the partially frozen New Jersey lake where he and another teen are believed to have fallen through the ice, authorities said.
The other boy has not been found. The search was suspended in the evening and was set to resume Wednesday morning.
Police began searching for the boys after several 911 calls came in reporting screams for help coming from the lake in Mount Olive Township shortly before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The search in the frigid water changed Tuesday morning to a recovery effort, officials said.
One of the 911 callers, William Hardy, lives across the lake with a friend and told NBCNewYork.com he heard two cries and went to the lake to investigate in the dark.
"We heard some individuals calling for help, saying, 'Please help us. Please save us, someone help,'" said Hardy.
Hardy ventured onto the ice to locate the voices but could not safely get far enough to reach them.
"I took the flashlight and walked out about 800 feet," he said. "They're still another 100 feet in front of me, the ice is cracking. I can see a cell phone, I can still hear them. They're still talking to me and then the firefighters came."
Also on NBCNewYork.com: Man climbs Sandy-ravaged New Jersey roller coaster
On Tuesday morning, the father of one 15-year-old boy believed to be among the two missing returned to the search scene at Budd Lake.
The father told NBCNewYork.com that his son told him by phone Monday afternoon that he planned to go ride his bike on the lake with a friend, which is something the boy had done before. When he heard helicopters and saw the news reports, the father rushed down to the lake to speak with investigators -- but they had nothing concrete to tell him. So he returned Tuesday to wait.
He told NBCNewYork.com he didn't know the other boy who was believed to be at the lake with his son.
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Tragic, and oh so sad!!! Since they were not found last night, i fear the worst! Those poor families, missing loved ones at this time of year, sad, so sad!!!
Once, when i was a lad of 13, two of my cousins talked me into shoe skating on a lake by their house. After several minutes of fun, i decided to go to the far end, by the outlet. NOT a good idea! The ice started crackling, and the very ice i was on was undulating. I never in my entire life since then, have i ever felt such fear! Needless to say, i very carefully inched my way back to solid ice, and got the hell off the ice!!!! NO, i do not go out on ice anymore!
Heartbreaking
I live on another lake about 10 minutes from this one and it is clear that the lakes here are NOT frozen enough to walk or ride on. This is so tragic...kids being kids and paying the ultimate price...rest in peace boys.
I am so sad for these parents. The kids in question were only fifteen; give them a break as they are dead, please have some compassion.
One of the positive aspects of global warming is this won't happen again.
Very sad to hear this. May their souls be at peace.
When it comes to venturing out on frozen prairie lakes I gain more and more appreciation for growing up in the sometimes -40 degree temperatures of the Dakota winters. When the temperature got up to +32 because of a south wind it almost became short sleeve weather. Ice could be three, four, five feet thick or more. Our two largest reservoirs on the Missouri River would be solidly frozen on the inlets for ice fishing, skating, and driving your car on. I don't remember ever hearing of any one being foolish enough to drive completely across the widest part of the Missouri Reservoirs. But there must have been someone. Our fathers would drive around in their cars on the smaller prairie lakes and pull us on sleds, and of course their was ice fishing.
After leaving the Dakotas and going to the Southwest where it can get really cold in the winter, this is usually at night and on the average it would warm up to nearly +50 degrees some time during the daytime. When I saw people out on the frozen lakes in the Southwest it sort of scared me.
I am not sure what New Jersey winters are like, nor do I know how thick the ice can get on the lakes, I would still be uncomfortable venturing too far out on to the frozen lake and would be scared to let my kids play on it.
We were always told that ice would be thin where their were currents and in the middle of the lakes. The harsh winters of the Dakotas taught me that winters were deadly and not to be fooled with. It was only after I left the Canadian border country and moved to the Southwest that I learned that to the rest of the country +32 was not a heat wave. ( Yes it can get up into the +70s in the winters in the Dakotas, especially the western parts when you have a Chinook wind and there can be winters when temperatures range on average from -5 to +40.) That for much of the winters in the rest of the United States +32 was the average low temperature.
I sure hope these boys are ok, but I fear they are not. Unfortunately there are some mistakes in life, we can make only once. Venturing out on thin ice is one of them. Its really, really sad when it happens. When it comes to parenting Mother Nature is a very harsh parent. Father Sky can be also.
My prayers go out to the two families> I'm quite sure the father regret letting his son go out on the ice, for that decision will stay with him for the rest of his life.
Too bad for these kids. If the ice isn't thick enough to drive the fire rescue vehicle out on it, it is too thin. When I go ice fishing, I drag my canoe along with me and sit in it, just in case something happens and the ice breaks. Warm currents of water can cause 'safe' ice to thin and break in a very short time, so it is never wise to venture out there without some method of rescuing yourself.
So sad my younger one is this age...cant comprehend why kids dont understand that frozen lakes are dangerous!! and it states he told his parents he was going riding on the lake! wHY WOULD THEY ALLOW THE KIDS TO DO THIS, NO EXCUSE.
I hope they find them and bring them home so sad. PRAYERS GO OUT TO BOTH FAMILIES !
Maria
It's not that they don't understand it is dangerous. They just don't think that it will happen to them. They look at the situation, in this case the frozen lake. and say to them self "ok johnny and jim were over there when they fell thru so that means if we stay over here we will be ok." they don't rationalize that no where is safe the same place twice. I used to tell my kids, "ok your going swimming at the lake with your friends, if you hear my voice in the back of your mind saying "son that is stupid your going to get hurt." you better listen. because when you do get hurt.....
One of my sons is 20 and in the Navy he will call and say "Mom me and .... went out to go fishing, Tim wanted to do (this or that) but something said no that was dumb. so I did'nt do it, mom he got hurt.
I love those phone calls. even from 2thousand miles away I am still with my son guiding him .
I know what you mean but still kids aren't responsible as parents we are supposed to tell them NO and if they choose to do it anyway then it wont be on your conscience. Its very sad...my boyfriends uncle goes ice fishing from time to time and wants to take him I tell him dont go it isnt safe. I cant imagine what thosepoor boys were going thru when they fell...GOD HAVE MERCY. I think the town should have little canoes orsmall boats scattered that in case of accidents maybe they can swim, maybe put signs up THIN ICE then you would be surprised how scared people would be to walk on it then. I dont know senseless tragedy.
Unfortunately, we can't predict everything that might be dangerous for our kids, as much as we would like to believe that we can. While it might seem that it would have been easy to avoid this tragedy in hindsight, I think some of the lashing out from others towards these parents is due to fear and defensiveness that we as parents might miss something that would endanger our own kids. We have to pretend to be perfect parents ourselves and especially to be superior to these parents, because if we aren't superior to them something might happen to our own kids...
After all, most of us let our teens drive cars; and that has been proven time after time to be a very dangerous thing even if they observe all the rules of the road and pay attention at all times-and how many kids are likely not to get distracted with friends in the car? We also can't be with them at every single party and event to be sure they are not drinking and driving or engaging in other unsafe activities, however much we may have cautioned them about these activities-and of course we should do our best to instruct them. We don't know if the father of this kid cautioned him about thin ice. It's easy to say now that he should have said, "NO," to going out on the ice. No one would have noticed if the accident had never happened, however. We protect our children the best we can and instruct them as best we can, but there comes a time when we have to let them out of our sight, when they have to begin to grow up and begin to make choices more and more as they get older-and we have to trust them to make good choices.
To clarify: You trust that they will make good choices if you instructed them adequately, though some will NOT make good choices regardless. Either way, you can hardly follow them around for their entire lives to ensure good choices. And of course you have to let go gradually and let them learn to make their own choices gradually, according to their maturity level. Some will need more structure and guidance for longer than others. You can even start this when they are young by asking a young child if he wants a blue cup or a red one-especially if he is balking about drinking-and keep on going. If he does not wish to go to bed, he can choose which story he wants before bed or which pajamas he wishes to wear. That way he maintains some control of his life and the situation and begins to learn how to make choices. By the time they are teens, some kids are beginning to choose their own consequences for misdeeds when given two or three options, they are often choosing what classes to take, they should definitely be partners in choosing their future course-whether it be college, trade school, military, or other option, etc.
Before my daughter became a teen and decided she knew everything we used to play a game we called "scenarios," in which I would come up with a situation she might face as a teen (such as being at a party where someone pulled out some illegal drugs) and she would try to figure out what to do in that situation. She came up with a number of creative solutions and actually enjoyed the game so much she would beg me to play it with her. It also seemed to help her when she faced many of those very situations in the future-and I think she was less hesitant to talk to me about them after we had talked about them in the game. (Also, I didn't freak out when she told me for real-at least not in front of her!)
Sorry to go off track-I just wanted to explain that I didn't think every kid would automatically make good choices and how I believed one taught kids to make choices, etc. It's kind of complicated, and I guess I went a bit long.
My God I hope those boys are okay some way some how. When I was a kid we had a creek nearby and used to go ice skating on it. I remember well when my brother fell thru the ice and we had to walk him a long ways back home. We never went ice skating there again. My prayers go to the boys and their families.
SO sad. I lived near a river in my teen years and the few times it froze over the years there was always people on it, as it was novelty. Someone was even stupid enough to drive their truck out there and of course, it went down nose first, it's butt sticking out of the ice. Luckily no one was hurt. I only went out on it when it was as thick as the length of my hand (5-6 inches) and even then stayed where I knew it was shallow. The only time my friends and I went at night was when there was fire nearby and there was crowd of us.
God be with them, what a tragedy
Just shows America's state, read all the posters here that say "should be signs, should not let kids go out on ice, should manage every bit of risk out of life". Humans are risk takers, that is why we have boats, rockets and houses instead of shivering bare skinned inside a wet cave. We learned to take care of ourselves, or nurse the bruises (if we were lucky).
Sad for the teens, but this is a cold, cruel world - we just like to pretend we can micromanage every bit of danger out of it. Then the teens go on "adventure expeditions" and doing "extreme sports" - eliminate dangers and they will manufacture their own. Basic life and human nature.
It is the responsibility of parents to do anything possible to get your kids to adulthood safely. When we are adults, we can take all the risks we want.
I am merely replying to your silly post. You probably don't have kids and could care less about kids. I am not blaming the parents, but kids don't think about consequences - adults do. That is why adults are supposed to teach and guide children and keep them out of harms way.
You want to risk your life as an adult - that is your choice and your problem - however you want to look at it. Most of us would like to keep kids safe and teaching safety is part of doing that. Most of us would like to live an entire lifetime and have our kids live an entire lifetime. Some want to risk their lives for an adrenaline rush - your choice - your risk. Kids, however, are the responsibility of adults.
For your information, I have rised six - three of my own and three of my wife's. Yes, we taught them how to recognize dangers and how to take care of themselves. But I did not try to put them in isolation bubbles - my boys rode motorcycles, came home bruised and battered, and had to repair the damage to themselves and their bikes. They went hunting and were trained to concentrate where their shots were going and who was around them. Girls learned to do their own mechanical repairs and how to distrust anyone who is overly concerned about their "welfare".
That said, I repeat: we all learn by experience. I learned to look both ways when crossing a street - something that our earbud and texting addicts obviously did not. So, should we outlaw earbuds and iphones? I just get infuriated by those who assume that the world should change to protect them, rather than they should learn to protect themselves from the world. One child in school is allergic to peanuts, so we should outlaw peanuts for the whole school? It has happened - glory to the least common denominator!
Actually, for some with peanut allergies, just being near an open package of them, or a peanut butter sandwich, can be enough to trigger the allergic reaction. I like peanuts, have no allergies to any nuts, but I wouldn't want to be the person who sent a classmate to the hospital, or worse.
Another example of people not adequately educating their youth on what not to do - playing on thin ice, riding snowmobiles/atv's irrespnsibly, hanging out at all hours of the night instead of actually having a home life. We were always taught to 'stay away from the ice unless grown-ups have checked it out first'. This winter hasn't been cold enough to freeze much of the ice very thick and bicicles put all the weight on such a small area its no wonder they went through. I hope people use this as a chance to again demonstrate what poor judgement can result in - but with so many examples of this already across the country - and every year - it seems that no one wants to listen to common sense anymore.
This is the time of year when this happens. You can save a life with just a fishing pole and a rope. Keep one of your heavy outfits (preferably a surf pole) & a fairly stout rope somewhere handy. Tie a hookless plug or weight on, making sure you can get off a good cast with it. If someone falls thru, cast over them and walk to either side until they've got the line, cut off the mono and tie on the rope (a loop or know on that end is good)and have them pull the rope to them. If enough people were prepared this way, many of these drownings could be prevented. If you live anywhere near a lake, get the word out to the neighbors. Someone will thank you someday.
That's being a 15 year old boy. At that age as a boy you don't seem to really consider the what if scenarios. It just sort of calls you out there I guess. When you have two boys then you get the "dare" factor coming into play. I imagine a couple of stories of seeing someone else out there recently and that's all it takes. Someone mentioned that they hoped it was a prank. That's something else that young boys do. Perhaps it is. It would be wonderful for the families if that proves to be the case. After a long meaningful hug then some serous punishment. If that's what happened I hope the parents point out to the kids that by doing such a thing they put those who tried to rescue them at risk.
Kids. I suppose this sort of thing happens every year. I doubt that it will ever change.
gotta ban ice now. should be a felony to have ice or walk on it.
Does it really matter what you would or wouldn't do? It's easy to say when your not the one in that situation, isn't it? These 15 yr. old children, who don't always have the best judgement, if they did we wouldn't call them children, they would be adults; which don't have the best sense either. Can't you just say a prayer and hope these family's get their children back alive? You should be ashamed of yourselves for making these parents feel any worse than they already do.
I forgot to check the comments and see if anyone was able to tie in the Republicans or President Obama with this. It never fails. I hate that. The other thing I dislike is when there is a reasonably interesting article that is certain to get a lot of readers, there are people who have to use it as an opportunity to advertise something.
I guess that's bound to happen. It's the nature of people to use whatever opportunity they have to make the comments they want and for others to sell something.
The problem with the lakes by me are springs. Ice can be 6 inches thick in on spot but 50 feet away its paper thin. Every year there are people that go through the ice. More often then not ending in tragedy. If you Dont know Dont go!
I am so sick over this story. Very upsetting to hear and wishing for a postive outcome even though i don't think it is. But i have to say one thing and that is in New Jersey, we really haven't had a cold enough winter to really thoroughly freeze Budd Lake or any other lake for that matter. Very sad.
i like to walk on ice but first i would put my foot on it first to see how thick the ice is before going further
besides that, they should have a sign BEWARE THIN ICY OR NO SKATING AT ANYTIME
i would never ever think to ride a bike on ice
father is also in the wrong
i know boys will be boys and thats it
you can saying anything about my comment
correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the witness say all they could see was a cell phone? lets all hope im right about this but could it not be 2 teenagers pulling a prank? think about it you put the cell on speaker phone and set it down on the ice then leave the scene with the second phone . they should check to see if that phone had received or made a call around that time. i pray i am correct and will keep my fingers crossed hoping for the best
Its possible! I hope it is just a prank..... good thinking!!!
US Citizen.. Unreal man... Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but thinking the same thing..
What a shame that there are past incidents that make us think this is possible.
exactly, we should hope for that.
now the government will ban ice.
Is it a disease with some people like you who think posting stupid things is of some value? Do all pro-gun people have this disease? Just curious!
Do all Progressives have no sense of humour or just you?
I guess I have no sense of humor when addressing an article about 15 year old boys falling through the ice and are most likely dead. I should have my head examined, I guess! Somehow politics and humor aren't my priority when I am concerned about kids falling through thin ice.
The first few times might be called humor, but after a few hundred, or thousand, times it's just retarded.
Some people are constantly amused by the same joke, even if they hear it a hundred times a day. Are you one of them?