Carteret Teen Who Fell In Icy Pond Dies, Mayor Confirms

CARTERET, NJ — The Carteret teen who fell through an icy pond Wednesday night did not survive, according to Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman. He is now the second Middlesex County teen to die after falling through ice; the other incident happened in East Brunswick, also on Wednesday.

After David Tillburg, 15, fell into the partially frozen Carteret Park pond with a friend, it took rescue workers nearly an hour to pull him out. He was pronounced dead at Newark's University Hospital Thursday morning.

"Despite a valiant effort by all personnel involved in last night’s rescue attempt, the young man was pronounced deceased in the morning hours of Thursday, January 23," said Reiman in a somber statement. "Our small community is saddened and shocked over this tragedy."

The community of Carteret is so shaken that many religious leaders flocked to Carteret Park Wednesday night to comfort the first responders who tried to save the boy, he said. Grief counselors were also brought into Carteret schools Thursday.

As Patch reported, Tillburg and another teen were walking on the partially frozen Carteret Park Pond at 5:07 p.m. Wednesday when they both fell in, said the Carteret fire department.

His friend was able to pull himself out, but Tillburg could not get out and he fell under the ice. It took rescue crews an hour to retrieve and there were several unsuccessful attempts to pull him from the icy water. When he was pulled out, the young man was rushed to University Hospital in Newark.

NBC is reporting that Tillberg left a haunting final SnapChat message Wednesday evening: The last entry in his SnapChat account is a photo of him in the dark with the caption "On the ice baby."

His family confirmed his tragic death in this GoFundMe they started.

"Last night we lost my nephew David, in a tragic accident. He fell through the ice in a lake at the park. I can’t begin to tell you how distraught we all are," wrote his family on the GoFundMe page. "He had his whole life ahead of him and I am beside myself as I type this message. He just went out to play with his friend and tragedy struck."

" Please share and please talk to your kids about going onto ice," the family member wrote.

"We take solace in knowing that our emergency services responded and did all they could in an attempt to rescue him," said Reiman. "The brave men and women of our Carteret police, fire and EMS were joined by emergency responders from surrounding communities, and risked their own safety in their efforts."

Teen falls through ice in East Brunswick, also does not survive

Tragically, Tillburg was the second New Jersey teen to die Wednesday night after walking across an icy pond. A 13-year-old East Brunswick boy was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m. after he and two friends fell into an icy pond by the East Brunswick Civic Center.

At 4:55 p.m. Wednesday, East Brunswick police were called to the pond located on Civic Center Drive for a 911 call of three juveniles that fell through the ice. When police got there, two of the boys were able to successfully pull themselves out, but one boy still remained in the water. Arriving officers immediately formed a chain and entered the pond to help the boy, but he slipped under the ice before they could reach him.

East Brunswick firefighters arrived and, working with police, were able recover the 13-year-old boy from the pond. He was given CPR and rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in critical condition. That's where he was pronounced dead, at 7:45 p.m. that night, said police.

That teen has only been identified as an 8th grader at Churchill Junior High School

In that instance, six officers and two firefighters were treated for hypothermia, some of them so badly that three of them had to be taken to the hospital, as well. East Brunswick police were racing so fast to get to the pond to save the boys that one officer got into a car accident and had to be hospitalized.

Initial Patch report: East Brunswick, Carteret Teens Fall Through Ice; One Dies: PD