Search for 15-year-old who went missing at Westerly beach suspended
WESTERLY, R.I. (WLNE) — The United States Coast Guard said Friday the search for a 15-year-old New London, Connecticut, boy who went missing at a town beach has been suspended.
“At this point, we don’t think the survivability is likely,” said the Coast Guard.
Westerly Police Chief Paul Gingerella said the 15-year-old was swimming Thursday by the jetty at Dunes Park Beach with family. They were swimming after-hours when there were no lifeguards on-duty.
The search continues for a missing swimmer at Dunes Park Beach in Westerly, Friday, July 28, 2023. (WLNE)
While police said they don’t know “exactly what happened,” they believe the boy either slipped on one of the rocks and went under or got pulled by one of the waves.
Police said Thursday’s winds and storm were “pretty rough.”
The search continues for a missing swimmer at Dunes Park Beach in Westerly, Friday, July 28, 2023. (WLNE)
The search for the teen will be suspended at 2 p.m. and then it will “become local.”
Gingerella said the number of drownings in Rhode Island this summer has been alarming.
The search continues for a missing swimmer at Dunes Park Beach in Westerly, Friday, July 28, 2023. (WLNE)
A day ago, a man died after suffering a medical episode in the water at Buttonwoods Beach in Warwick.
Earlier this month, a woman drowned after disappearing under the water at Conimicut Point Beach in Warwick and a man drowned trying to save distressed kayakers at the Wenscott Reservoir in Lincoln.
