Missing Man’s Body Found Off Jersey Shore Identified: Police

BARNEGAT LIGHT, NJ — A body found in the ocean off the Jersey Shore last week has been identified as a Bergen County man who had been missing for four days, officials said.

Kiariff Alston, 26, of Glen Rock left his home Sunday, Oct. 10 to buy gas before going to work at a Home Depot store in Paterson, police said. Alston’s family reported him missing on Monday after learning he never made it to his job.

Glen Rock police began investigating, tracking Alston’s car to Seaside Heights.

At about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard received a report of a possible body in the ocean, Petty Officer Kimberly Reaves said.

Alston was wearing scuba gear when his body was recovered off Barnegat Light, about two miles off the coast of Island Beach State Park, Reaves said.

The Ocean County medical examiner’s office conducted an autopsy. Alston’s death remains under investigation.

Alston’s mother, Erica Dawson, told NorthJersey.com that her son suffered from a mental illness and was known to wander away from their home. She called him a “gentle giant.”

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