19-Year-Old Swimmer Missing For 2 Days In NJ River, Search Continues

PATERSON, NJ - The search continues Saturday for a 19-year-old swimmer who went under the water in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and never resurfaced, officials said.

Jose Madera Martinez, of Paterson, was last seen Thursday around 8 p.m. struggling in the current before going under, his friends told the National Park Service.

Martinez was swimming in Karamac on the New Jersey side of the park, about a mile north of Interstate 80. He was attempting to swim from the shoreline to the bridge abutments with three other people when he went under the water, witnesses said.

“The current in this section of the river is particularly swift,” the National Park Service said in a statement. “Three other swimmers were later rescued by volunteer rescue team members from Portland Hook and Ladder Company out of Portland, PA. None of the swimmers were wearing a life jacket.”

The search continued Friday by boat and on foot, with crews “keeping an eye on the weather which could affect the safety of rescuers,” according to US Park Ranger and the search’s incident commander Todd Roessner. “In the event of foul weather, the search will be suspended temporarily until conditions are again deemed safe.”

Stormy conditions are expected throughout the state until Sunday, with the entire state under a flood watch as of Saturday morning.

The Delaware River is currently at 8 feet and rising, park officials said, which is two to three feet higher than average for this time of year, making conditions “unsafe and unsuitable for dive operations.”

The motorboat launch at Kittatinny Point is closed until further notice due to ongoing search operations, park officials added.