The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
DEEP ID’s man swept off sandbar
MILFORD » A man swept off a sandbar while attempting to walk to Charles Island Friday has been identified as George Swaby, 28, of Bridgeport, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s environmental conservation police. He is presumed dead.
The Milford Fire Department said Saturday afternoon that it had officially suspended search-and-recovery efforts.
Swaby is presumed dead, and the search for him has been called off, according to NBC Connecticut.
Swaby and two companions had been walking on the sandbar that leads to Charles Island off Silver Sands State Park when a wave forced two of them, both males, into Long Island Sound. A third friend, a woman, began the walk but stopped before reaching the sandbar’s midpoint, police said.
A boater called 911 at about 12:45 p.m. Friday, saying the two men were in the water and in distress, according to police.
The boater rescued one man, who police said is in his mid-20s, but Swaby could not be located. The rescued man said he had been in the water about 20 minutes before he was rescued.
Crews switched from rescue mode to recovery about 5 p.m. Friday
The three friends had biked to Silver Sands from Stratford.
The mother of the missing man later arrived at Silver Sands and told police he was a novice swimmer, according to Milford Fire Department Battalion Chief Anthony Fabrizi.
The Fire Department said the area around Charles Island was “methodically searched by marine and airborne units from multiple agencies,” using sonar technology.