The search for a missing swimmer who disappeared in the Hudson River at the Dobbs Ferry riverfront Monday night came to a tragic end on Tuesday.
Emergency crews at the riverfront recovered the body of the swimmer around 10:30 a.m. He first disappeared shortly after 6 p.m. Monday.
Dobbs Ferry police and fire departments, the NYPD, the Rockland County Sheriffs Office, and the Ardsley and Hartsdale police departments were just some of the responding agencies that began their rescue mission soon after the 911 call first came in.
The Yorktown Heights Fire Department and Westchester County police both sent divers into the Hudson River, as police boats and pontoons searched the river using sonar.
"They started a grid search once the first boats arrived at approximately 6:15 p.m. They were out there for three and a half hours," explained Dobbs Ferry Fire Chief Joseph Giuliano. "It had to get called at about 9:30 p.m., it was a safety hazard for our first responders out on the water," he said.
On Tuesday morning, crews switched their operations from rescue to recovery, and discovered the body a few hours later.
"Divers recovered the individual 50 yards off the shoreline in 25-35 feet of water," said Chief Giuliano.
Witnesses at the scene say the swimmer was part of the carnival that was here at the waterfront last week. He was part of the crew disassembling the rides, when his coworkers say he got overheated, and jumped into the river. That one second split decision cost him his life.
I feel bad," said Dobbs Ferry resident Dennis O'Brien, who walks along the riverfront every single morning. "These guys have been working in the heat for the last few days, obviously, he tried to cool off. The Hudson River has some rough currents. It has a duel current," he said.
Chief Giuliano says the most important thing in the water is safety. He says to only swim in places where there's a lifeguard, and remember the water may look calm, but looks can be deceiving.
The identity of the swimmer has not been released, pending notification of next of kin.