Coast Guard finds man who went missing after jumping in Arthur Kill near Perth Amboy

Google MapsAfter fishing on the pier in the center of this image, two men jumped into the Arthur Kill with the intentions of swimming to shore. A search was launched yesterday for the man who didn't make it.

PERTH AMBOY — Authorities discovered the body of a man floating just under the water's surface about 50 yards from where he was last seen clinging onto a piling, officials said.

The man, whose identity was not released, had jumped off a pier in Perth Amboy to swim back to shore with another man sometime around 9 p.m., said city Fire Chief Dave Volk.

While one of the men successfully swam to shore, the other was last seen by witnesses swimming from piling to piling of the 100-yard-long pier near the end of Buckingham Avenue, Volk said.

The men, described as middle-aged, had been fishing off the pier before their swim, Volk said.

A fire department rescue boat failed to find him, after being guided to the scene by witnesses on cell phones soon after receiving a call at 9:15 p.m. that someone was in the water, Volk said. “It appeared he lost his grip on one of the pilings, and went under, and then didn’t come back up,” said Volk.

At the time, a very strong current was running through the Kill out to Raritan Bay, he said.

Because of the current, divers were unable to search last night, he said.

Seven boats and two helicopters from the New York Police and Fire Departments, Perth Amboy Police and Fire Departments, the State Police and the Coast Guard were deployed, as well as a launch from the nearby Raritan Yacht Club.

At about 12:45 a.m., the Coast Guard helicopter spotted the man's body floating just under the water about 50 yards from shore near the municipal marina and 50 yards south of the pier where he had jumped, Volk said.

"He obviously had to be lodged on something underneath, and then he came up," Volk said.

The man's body was picked up by a police boat and taken to shore, where he was pronounced dead at 1:05 a.m., said Volk.

Story Provided by NJ.COM