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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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Too sad for words! My condolences to the families of the boys. R.I.P. poor young boys.
When I was a kid, my father told me and my sisters and brother to never, never venture out on a frozen lake or pond. Absolutely never! He explained the danger that IF that ice broke, you go into the cold, cold water and you cannot find the hole that broke or if you do find the hole, the ice makes it too slippery for you to get out. You are easily trapped.
Parents, please tell your kids to never, never venture out on a frozen pond or lake. The risk is just too much!
Again, my condolences to the families. What a horrible and sad tragedy!
Amen, a little common sense can go a long way!
"Hey, dad, we're going to go ride our bikes across the ICE COVERED LAKE."
"No, that's stupid and dangerous."
Tragedy averted.
Idiots.
I was hoping to read that the father said "No, that's stupid and dangerous" .... but sadly did not..
I in no way would have let my boy ride his bike on the ice. Especially without any kind of supervision or backup plan in case someone falls in. The winters have not been cold enough for that and even if they had been Id still not let him venture out by his self or with just one other boy. I dont care how old he is. I as a parent am there to make the responsible decision that can save my child's life and believe me....something like this would never fly with me. I love my children too much to take unneeded risks with their lives. Very sad for the families invloved.
Ban water in it's liquid and solid states as well as bikes.
Your IQ must be less then waters to make such a stupid statement! Could use an education in common sense yourself couldn't you?
Well the bike took him out on the ice, and the ice broke right?
Ramay - Wish we could ban all commenters who think politics and quips belong on every post about everything and anything. Boring! Yawn!
You're right! Ban me. Ban commenting in general, and self-hating finger-pointers.
I watched the omen when I was very young; there was a scene in which a child, skating on a frozen lake, falls through the ice. since then i've had a phobia of frozen lakes. I just don't understand why people would want to take the risks. Of course I live in FLA.
"Their families were notified Monday night that they had been reported missing." Something weird about that statement. Who identified and reported them missing if not their families??
Witnesses hearing the boys yelling for help notified authorities.
Still weird...The witnesses knew who the boys were?
"We heard some individuals calling for help, saying, 'Please help us. Please save us, someone help,'" said Hardy. "Some Individuals" not like they knew who to notify..
Randy and Mark- guess you need to contact the reporter or the family to find out more details. Sheesh!
By now I figure that the schools would teach, the law would demand and parents would impress upon children, where winter skating in ponds and lakes is a winter activity of the need to always always carry a pair of spikes attached by lanyards to the wrists. These spikes woul be used to jam into the surface of intact ice to give traction and allow the victims an opportunity to extract themselves from the lake, pound etc.
When I was young, the rowdy next door neighbor boys typically went out on the local pond when it was frozen. I noticed that when the ice broke, it did so into multiple huge slabs. This made it practically impossible for them to get out of the water without getting to "shore" (if they could!). More often than not someone (usually an adult) had to throw them a rope to help them get out. Obviously, they didn't ALWAYS fall through the ice, but when they did, it was more than a little scary.
My point is that I don't think that spike-laden wrists would help because the slabs of ice are generally just too unsteady even if you can hold onto them. And in many cases, I'm sure the ice just wasn't thick enough to be stable to begin with (let alone, be able to afford traction via spikes).
This is so sad. This happens more than you think, and not just in the northern climes. The ice on lakes is so unpredictable, it could be two feet thick for hundreds of yards and two inches over a spring. Once you've fallen in it's nearly impossible to get out and you only have a matter of minutes before you succumb to the cold. My heart and prayers go out to the families.
A lake by me is full of springs and every year at least one tragedy occurs. Usually at night on something motorized. There are even signs around the lake. I grew up with "If You Dont Know Dont Go".
Ive been in Fire/EMS for 22 years. I have memories I will never get rid of. Every winter a particularly vivid one comes back. It involves a man who went out on ice to rescue a dog. He fell through. Not getting into details but he died as I held onto him to keep him from sinking out in the lake, while we both waited to be retrieved by the shore crew. I briefly was pulled under the ice sheet during the retrieval process, and almost went down with the victim. You never forget these things.
Bad judgement call on his part. People make bad choices every day. People disregard warnings every day. People die every day. I'm sure he had every good intent when he went out on that ice. All it would have taken was a call to 911 and we would have gone out and gotten the dog. So the next time the impulse to "do the right thing" or "be a hero" strikes, perhaps people should stop and think for a second. Ask themselves "Is this possibly going to kill me?". Most Emergency responders in fact do ask that very same question. We weight the risk, versus the benefit. We are equipped to respond. We wear our equipment because it keeps us safe. We train every year to respond and rescue people. Just remember that if you DO decide to go out and "Be a hero", there is a very good chance you could end up being victim number two.
As a community service we put Public Service Announcements over the radio every year about going out onto the ice, and its dangers. Every year I see people disregard the warnings. Every year we see people out on the ice in sketchy conditions. Every year I dread having to go on another one of these calls.
Prayers to the family. I hope they find them soon so they can get some closure, and peace.
Excellent post. So sorry about your very sad experience. Thank you for doing the job you do for the rest of us.
Great post Pablo. Thank you for the work you do.
Pablo, thank you to you and all first responders. As the handler of a K9 SAR team, I know just what your saying about weighing the risks involved. Sadly, the ones without the training never concider this before they put themselves in the danger. But that is why we spend so many hours and years always training, and training some more, and I am sure it is pure heartbreak to lose one despite the training and best efforts. Thankfully, their ignorance doesnt stop us all from going out time and again to make the effort. The saves far outweigh the losses. Again, thank you for the job you choose to do. You've earned your wings, many times over.
Thank you too gonsearchin!
K9 Justice gets the credit...without his nose, many victims would have worse fates if we had to find them without him. I am just the interpreter when he alerts to the scent. But thank you on Justice's behalf
What's up with people walking on frozen lakes, how can they be that ignorant to not know what the consequences can be. Get smart people!
I grew up near another lake in Morris County, NJ. When I was in junior high school, me and 2 friends walked across the frozen lake (with our bikes). It was late winter and water covered the ice. We could even see cracks in the ice. Thank God, nothing happened, but many, many times over the years, I've thought about how stupid it was for us to do that. When you're young, you just never think it will happen to you. How sad for these families, They are in my thoughts and prayers.
Living in Michigan most people aren't more then five miles from any lake. As a child I went ice-fishing with my dad and truly enjoyed it but he ALWAYS checked the ice thickness or checked with DNR before we went onto it! It's a sad tragedy these two boys put a bit of fun ahead of their lives. The boy who called his father and told him his plans should have been told No right then and the father should have Immediately went to bring him home. This was a senseless loss.....
What a shame when the kid told his dad i`m going out on the ice,Dad should have said no!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why are we more worried about teaching our children technology instead of common sense?
Good point! Sadly, some parents don't have much common sense to pass along.
Because the iPhone6 wll also be able to be used as an emergency flotation device?
Riding bikes on an icy lake. I wonder if his father ever told him that was DUMB to do.Too late now.
Sad to say but it's survival of the fittest.
Sad to say but it's survival of the fittest.
Why do the rescue team members have to walk on the ice? Why can't they get those inflatable spheres that you "walk" on water with and move to the area that the people thought they heard the calls for help coming from?
If you read the article, you will see that the man who couldn't go any further was a neighbor on the lake. He didn't have equipment to go further. It didn't say the rescuers didn't go further, just that they couldn't find the boys.
I know!! idiots! complete idiots! a rescue team of idiots!!!!!!!!!
Were you there moodygirl? I thought not! So, keep your stupid negative comments about the rescuers to yourself. Grow up!
If they were in a Sphere, could they open it and reach out? Just wondering. I don't know how easy to get in or out of them.
There are several different types of "vehicles" used to reach ice rescue victims. A "sphere" not being one of them. One of the more popular is the Oceanid RDC. It can be used for ice as well as surface and swift water rescue. There are a couple other variations on pontoon type craft. My experience with these is limited but suffice it to say I didnt care for them. Equipment needs to be durable, portable, stable and multi-use, and capable of rescuing multiple victims at one time. A sphere doesnt meet any of these requirements. While it sounds like a great idea in theory, it isnt such a great idea in practice.
Based on prior experience, and researching successes as well as failures, the best ice rescue technique is a single rescuer in an ice rescue suit with a flotation collar for the victim. In all honesty the BEST chance a person has of surviving an incident like this is not being rescued by outside sources. It is SELF rescue. Carry ice awls and wear a PFD if you feel you MUST go ice fishing or playing on frozen bodies of water. Better yet, invest in a $600-$800 drysuit. I have spent as long as 12 hours out on the ice and in the water in my suit (during training exercises). Without some sort of protection, once you go in you have roughly 15 minutes to get yourself out before you will succumb to the cold water. generally speaking you have about 5 minutes before you will start to lose your capabilities. Your chances drop each passing second as the heat is slowly but surely sapped from your body. Just like swift water, people do not know, nor do they respect the power of water or cold weather conditions.
My Girl Scout manual (back in early 1950s; don't know about now) had a section devoted to first avoiding, and then getting out of, dangerous situations. Several ways to know if the ice were safe were presented, and several ways to effect a rescue were also presented.
Foremost among the latter was never to walk out on the ice yourself, but you could use a heavy plank, or even a ladder pushed ahead of you toward the person in the water. The presumption there was that the ladder would spread the weight, the PIW would grab onto it, and could then be pulled to safety. If the PIW was too weak to grab on, the advice was to get a second person to anchor the ladder on safe ice, then crawl very carefully long the rungs until able to reach the PIW to pull him/her out.
I'm sure there are plenty of places where one can learn such life-saving techniques. But one cardinal rule above all: if the ambient air is above freezing, DON'T GO OUT ON THE ICE. It appears that the ambient temperature near this lake had been above freezing for several days. Not a good sign.
The ladder technique you mention is fine if you are trained in its use, and near shore. If you arent near shore it is quite simply a long boat anchor with 2 more victims on it. By the accounts given, the one man went almost 800 feet out before encountering thin ice and turning back. He thought he was about 100 feet away.
I cant say as I recommend using a "plank", or sheet of plywood either. The story I related earlier (line #68) involved a man who used a sheet of plywood to gain access to the dog. All this did was put him over 500 feet out on rotten ice that was breaking up with no way back. It hindered our ablity to access him due to the long distance he was from shore (equates to >500 feet of retrieval rope to bring us all back in).
Ive said it before and I will say it again. Call 911. Stay off the ice. Unless you have a desire to die right along side the first victim. Even if you are properly equipped to operate in this extreme of an environment and have the appropriate training, it can still go horribly wrong (as I can testify from having been there). There is nothing simple or routine about ice and water rescue. Rescuers and well meaning citizens die all the time trying to help people. I get paid to do the job and I dont have a death wish. I want to go home at the end of every shift. I train and I use the appropriate equipement.
I grew up in Minnesota where there are thousands of lakes. All of us were taught at an early age to stay off the lake until it was well-frozen -- as determined by someone with experience, not by us. In those days when the air froze, the lakes froze quite solidly soon after.
Nowadays, according to many of my cousins living there, because of the climate change, many of the lakes do not freeze at all, or don't freeze enough to support any human activity. Still, my cousins who have a home on a lake, tell me that two or three snowmobiles have to be pulled out every year.
A lake is a dangerous place if you don't know what you are doing, be it winter or summer. I teach boating safety classes and I warn my students that any time you are in water that's over your head, and less than 70 degrees, you are in an inherently dangerous situation. You need to know the safety rules, have the right equipment, and an escape plan should anything go wrong.
Things can also go wrong on the ice, and you have far fewer options.
My condolences to the parents of these boys. It's very difficult to lose someone at that age.
This is tragic, but what surprises me is that none of the postings took the father to task. The son called and TOLD his father he was planning to go out on the ice. There is no suggestion that the father sought to prohibit, intervene or even persuade his son that this was a dangerous and bad idea.
Perhaps because the father just lost his son. Compassion prevails for some of us. The guilt he will live with forever is perhaps more than enough "taking the father to task". What a horrible thing for him to live with.
SO! anyway!! the point is IS that these idiot "rescuers" could not even jump in and save these kids! not a one in the bunch had the ball sack to break the ice and rescue them! worthless! completely worthless! What kind of recue team do the have? a bunch of cartoons! Come to Wyoming and learn how to pull someone outta the ice! So,while they were measuring the thickness of the ice, these poor kids were dying!! GET IT! you idiot fisherman and bragging fools are way off the point! Unbelievable! Stupid mayor could not even come up with anything intelligent to say either! Outrageous!
You weren't there, you have no idea what they did to try to find the boys. You don't know the circumstances at all. Also, rescuers have to protect themselves too. They are not supposed to take such risks that they end up dead too. Who do you think you are? You should be ashamed of yourself!
I can think of something to more apropos than moody to describe you girl. At any rate 'jumping in' to save someone who's fallien through the ice is a sure way to become a compatriot victim. Do a little research before making ignorant comments...you'll look more like smartgirl.
The point IS That youre trolling. OR you didnt read the article. OR that you have the reading comprehension of a small soap dish. Per the article: One neighbor went out onto the lake until he felt that he was in danger. He said he could see the light of a cell phone. When Emergency Services arrived, the boys had already slipped under the ice. Per the story, they did in fact break open the ice to make a bigger hole in an attempt to locate the boys. It also says that they enlisted the use of a dive rescue team. Based upon what has been written in the story, I am led to believe that this is a rather large as well as deep body of water.(since the dive team was unable to locate either victim) So your point IS INVALID. By all appearances you are merely trying to get a rise out of people. Please. Enlighten all of us here in this forum, exactly what your experience as well as level of professional training you have in regards to Surface water Rescue, Ice Rescue, and Swift water Rescue. Do tell. We are all anxious to learn from your valuable level of expertise in the matter (other than the somewhat lame ability to call First Responders durogatory epithets). Quite honestly I hope I never have to be rescued out of anywhere in Wyoming, since Im afraid (based on your posts) the only response I would get would be some crazy angry b!tch who cant understand simple english, calling me names.
My heart and prayers go out to the families as my memory takes me back to where a missing teen had fallen through an unmarked mine shaft in Nevada CA. Knowing that my son had gone hiking in a nearby area, of course I was sure it was my son that had fallen. I will keep those boys in my prayers and pray that God is with them. To those of you making stupid jokes and remarks, I'd like to be ampng the first to wring your worthless thoughtless necks!
Maybe they should ban all ice. How many people die from it every year?
Wish we could ban all commenters who think politics and quips belong on every post about everything and anything. Boring! Yawn!
Well, ice wasn't created by man and it doesn't form to kill. Guns were/are created by humans to kill. Jerky!
Correct rbjko!
what a stupid comment by M6. Hah, hah, hah! you're missing your calling as a Vegas Strip comedian.
witness who walked out on the ice said, "I can see a cell phone, I can still hear them. They're still talking to me..."
I am going to hope this was a stupid prank, that witnesses heard cries for help from the cell phone skidded out onto the ice (speakerphone).
Had also wished it was a prank.. But, could you imagine the risk someone would put on the Witness who went out looking for them and the rescuers?
I would hate to think anyone would be so distorted to do so...
Yeah but the kids stayed outside all night or the prank i doubt it
I know.. but when you have no other choices, you hope they were a couple of douche bags instead of dead.....
This very sad! But now we must start a movement to ban any type walking on ice because it kills people!!!!
You know there are parent still wanting to know what happen to their children. This will be tough for you but try to fake you have some compassion to the suffering of others, and take your political nonsense to one of the 100's of political articles.
Well, ice wasn't created by man and it doesn't form to kill. Guns were/are created by humans to kill. Jerky!
Correct rbjko! A nuance that pro-gun people can't seem to comprehend.
Stupid comment by Beech. These kind of comparisons are sooooo old. Stop it already unless you enjoy showing how unoriginal and dumb you are.
And who were people created by? You are all losers.