After Fear That Man Fell Through Ice, Police in Millburn Call Off Search

After an additional daylong search of Campbell's Pond on Sunday, authorities have called off the hunt for a missing man and dog at Campbell's Pond in Millburn.

"We've concluded  no one seems to be missing," said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, who added that police agencies for 40 miles around the pond were contacted to see if any missing  person had been reported.

Members of the state police dive team and other law enforcement agencies resumed the search Sunday morning for a person who may have fallen into Campbell’s Pond in Millburn early Saturday evening.

The state police dive team began searching again at 8:30 a.m. for a man who might have disappeared while walking his dog on the pond. Officials from the Millburn Fire Department, state police and Essex County Sheriff’s Office set up a temporary command post to monitor the search near the site, along with Millburn Fire Chief Mike Roberts and Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura.

According to Fontoura, a witness was driving south on Brookside Drive around 4:45 p.m. Saturday and saw a man walking a large dog on a leash across the pond. When the man passed them, he looked back, but didn’t see the dog. The man in the car made a u-turn and could not locate the man on the pond either. He did, however, see someone on the shore, but that person was gone by the time the witness arrived.

Several dive teams were called in Saturday night from Bergen, Morris and Monmouth counties. Five local fire departments, including Maplewood, South Orange, and Newark were called to the scene.

The Saturday search started about 5:15 p.m. and was called off a little after 8:30 p.m. “Divers from the state police went in and worked feverishly and didn’t come up with anything,” said Fontoura. “Myself and Chief Roberts decided to call off the search last night because of the cold waters. One of the divers ended up getting a cramp because of the frigid water.”

Saturday night, a state police helicopter scanned the area for about a half hour using infared and thermal imaging to see if they saw anyone. They did about 4 or 5 sweeps of the area.

 No missing persons were reported Saturday night or Sunday.

“The best case scenario is that they will just show up and say, ‘Hey, that was me that the person saw.’ That’s what we’re hoping for," said Fontoura.

Fontoura said that an extensive search of the pond was conducted and the surrounding area. He thanked law enforcement personnel who aided in the search.