N.J. Drowning Deaths Up To 5 This Week As 2 Bodies Found

Five swimmers who went missing while swimming in New Jersey have now died, and two bodies were recovered on Thursday, authorities said.

A citizen walking on the Atlantic City beach located the body of Ramon Quinn, 15, of Pleasantville at Morris Avenue at 9:13 a.m. on Thursday. He went missing last week when he attempted to rescue Kaliy-ah Hand, 16, of Atlantic City, whose body was recovered Monday in Margate.

School officials, meanwhile, identified a N.J. teen swimmer who has gone missing on Wednesday in Hamilton Township. The superintendent of Hamilton Township School District identified the 17-year-old boy as Marty Barchue, a student at Hamilton West High School.

Barchue, whose body was pulled from a lake on Thursday, was one of four teen boys who were swimming in Roebling Memorial Park in Hamilton Township around 5 p.m. Wednesday when the current became too strong and swept them away, according to authorities. Read more here...

The five swimmers joined a growing list of children who have struggled with strong currents since Thursday, June 15 and required rescue efforts. All five didn't survive. Before June 15, bystanders jumped in three times this summer season to try to save the lives of swimmers who got caught in rip currents in the ocean.

Those incidents included:

• Emily Gonzalez-Perez of Belmar, 12, who had been on life support since she was rescued Thursday, died on Monday, four days after her cousin Mitzi Hernandez, 13, drowned off the Ninth Avenue beach in the Monmouth County community, according to Belmar officials. Emily died at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she had been since she and her cousin, both students at Belmar Elementary School, were pulled from the ocean on an unguarded beach with no parents nearby. Read more here....
• In Seaside Heights, two teenage boys rescued three people who were dragged out by a rip current on June 9; on June 12, bystanders pulled two teenage girls from the water in Avon-by-the-Sea after a rip current dragged them near a jetty.

Read more: Rip Currents: What To Look For, How To Survive Them

In Hamilton Township, Superintendent Scott Rocco sent a note home to parents on Thursday saying the district was notified of a student who was swimming in Roebling Park and went missing as the tide went out on Wednesday.

"Local, county, and state first responders were immediately called to the scene and conducted a search, which continued this morning," he said. "We thank them for their efforts."

In Atlantic City, both teens went missing around on Thursday, June 15, at 6:27 p.m. The Atlantic City Emergency Communications Center received 911 calls for the report of two swimmers drowning in the ocean off of the Kentucky Avenue beach, according to police.

The Atlantic City Police Department, Fire Department, and Beach Patrol all responded. First responders were on scene in less than two minutes and began to enter the ocean to search for a male and female.

Witnesses on scene told police that there was a group in the ocean. As they were coming to land, Hand began to get pulled from the shore by the rip current. Her friend, Quinn, attempted to rescue Hand, and they were both pulled further out and toward the jetty, police said.

Hand and Quinn began to struggle in the water and were pulled under.

The United States Coast Guard, New Jersey State Police, and the Brigantine Dive Team all responded to assist in the search for Hand and Quinn. The shoreline was searched by helicopter, from the beach, and from the ocean.

The Atlantic City Beach Patrol was off-duty at the time of this incident. Upon hearing of the need for assistance, they immediately responded from a nearby beach tent. The search was suspended Wednesday night at 10 p.m. due to darkness and the rough conditions of the ocean, police said.

Throughout the night, the United States Coast Guard remained on scene in the ocean and the police and fire departments remained on the beach and did sweeps of the shoreline. The Atlantic City Police Chaplains responded to the beach and have been assisting the families.

Photo courtesy of NBC10