Dead Body Found Off Highlands Thursday Morning

Atlantic Highlands, NJ - New Jersey State Police said they recovered a dead body in the water off Highlands Thursday morning.

Troopers with the Marine Unit found the body floating near the Rt. 36 bridge that connects Highlands with Sea Bright, Lt. Brian Polite told Patch.

"Troopers from our Carteret station recovered the body," sometime before 11 a.m., Lt. Polite said. However, the investigation has since been turned over to the Bradley Beach Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, he said. At about 7 p.m. this past Saturday, a 31-year-old Newark man was swept out to sea while swimming at Bradley Beach. The U.S. Coast Guard, local police and other agencies led a massive, 248-square-mile search and recovery mission for the man, who was thought to be carried out to sea in a rip tide.

The Coast Guard made the decision Sunday night to suspend the search for Newark resident Julio Pierre, who originally came to the U.S. from Haiti.

"Our hearts go out to the friends, families, and loved ones who are impacted by this tragic event," Capt. Scott Anderson, deputy Coast Guard commander, said in a press release. "Coast Guard crews and our partner agencies worked together to search for this individual and it's never an easy decision to stop searching."

Stock image of the U.S. Coast Guard on a search-and-recovery mission.