Body of missing Atlantic City swimmer found
NewsWorks file photo.
The body of one of two teenage swimmers missing from Atlantic City since last week has been found.
Authorities in Margate, a few miles south of Atlantic City, discovered the body of 16-year-old Kaliyah Hand of Atlantic City just after 5 a.m. Monday.
Her friend, 15-year-old Ramon Quinn of Pleasantville, tried to rescue her but was himself swept away on Thursday. He remains missing.
Hand’s father, Dirk Spence, came to the beach last Thursday night as rescuers were searching the waters.
“My heart goes to the family (of the boy),” Dirk Spence told The Press of Atlantic City. “That little guy was a hero. He will always be a hero in my book. It’s a tragedy. Let’s all come together, no matter good or bad, we can make it through.”
In Monmouth County’s Belmar, two young girls were pulled from the water around the same time the Atlantic City swimmers disappeared.
Both swimmers, cousins and local elementary school students, were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. A 13-year-old girl died, and a 12-year-old girl was in critical condition last Thursday night, Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty told NJ.com.
Earlier last week, two swimmers were hospitalized after they were pulled from the ocean off Avon-by-the-Sea.
All incidents happened after lifeguards were off-duty.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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