Missing Westfield Teen's Body Found By Divers At Jersey Shore

Avon-By-The Sea, NJ — The body of a Westfield teen, who had gone missing Saturday afternoon while snorkeling with friends in Avon-By-The-Sea, was found and identified by authorities Sunday.

The Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the body as that of 17-year-old Jeffrey Hoens. He was a senior at Saint Peter's Prep community.

"It was a group effort by many different agencies," Avon-by-the-Sea Police Chief Terrence Mahon told Patch. "We were hoping for a positive ending, but it didn't come out that way."

Hoens and his friends had gone to the Shark River Inlet Saturday morning to snorkel with friends, Mahon said.

Around 12:30 p.m., Hoens went off by himself to snorkel near the Ocean Avenue Bridge where the jetties are.

"A little while later his friends hadn't seen him in awhile and started looking for him," Mahon said. "They were so engrossed in looking for him that it wasn't until 4:38 p.m that they contacted his family and his father called the police."

Avon-By-The-Sea immediately got rescue swimmers and divers into the water to begin the search, authorities said.

The search by the U.S. Coast Guard, the New Jersey State Police Marine unit, authorities from Avon and Belmar — which lies on the south side of Shark River Inlet — and the ANSWER Team (Area Network of Shore Water Emergency Responders) went on for more than five hours on Saturday before authorities suspended it about 10 p.m.

Searchers resumed looking for the boy about 7 a.m. Sunday.

Members of the ANSWER team found Hoens' body stuck under the Ocean Avenue Bridge in the inlet and were able to remove him from the waters.

The Shark River Inlet, which is heavily traveled by private boaters and fishing boats in the summer months, was closed to civilian boat traffic during the search for the safety of search-and-rescue divers, the Coast Guard said.

Mahon said the police believe the cause of Hoens' death was due to drowning, but he is waiting for the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office to confirm the results.

(Photo, Marauder Nation ‏@TheNation2016)