By NANETTE LOBIONDO-GALLOWAY and MADDY VITALE
At approximately 6 a.m. Saturday a fisherman located the body of an unidentified adult male floating in the Great Egg Harbor Inlet between Longport and Ocean City.
The fisherman called 911 and Longport fire and police personnel were dispatched. The Longport Fire Department launched a boat and recovered the body.
The Southern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office is investigating and working to identify the body.
The body could be that of Jabed Ikbal, 24, of Clementon, Camden County, who went missing around 7 p.m. Sunday, July 12 after rescuing two family members from the surf at Ocean City’s Great Egg Harbor Inlet. He was last seen near the Ocean City-Longport Bridge.
The family of Ikbal has been notified about the unidentified body.
The body was discovered about 150 yards off the beach. It was recovered by the Longport Volunteer Fire Department shortly before the NJ State Police Marine Division arrived at the scene.
Longport Fire Chief Levon “Lefty” Clayton said the NJ State Marine Police would release further information.
Ocean City Beach Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard searched and 82-mile area for more than 21 hours until the rescue mission ended Monday.
The Coast Guard Cutter Bonito searched alongside a Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and two 29-foot Response Boat-Small boatcrews from Coast Guard Station Atlantic City and Coast Guard Station Great Egg.
“The decision to suspend search efforts is a challenging one,” said Chief Jacobe Hyre, the command duty officer at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay. “We ask that everyone try and be cautious of weather conditions before choosing to swim.”
Tropical Storm Fay, which effected the area over the weekend, could have played a role in the rougher surf in the inlet – an area already known for stronger currents, officials said.
Ikbal and his family were swimming July 12 at an unguarded beach.
“People need to swim only at guarded beaches and if they see someone in distress call 911,” Ocean City Beach Patrol Chief Mark Jamieson said earlier this week. “Too often, novice swimmers can get into a dangerous situation and everything happens too fast.”
The story is developing. Check back for more details.
