AMSTERDAM, N.Y. - The Amsterdam Police Department reports that the victim of Tuesday's drowning in the Mohawk River has been located and recovered.
Police say the body of 19-year-old Edward Figueroa, of Amsterdam, was recovered at 11:05 a.m. Wednesday during a rescue mission conducting by six agencies and over 30 divers. He was located in approximately 20 feet of water,
about halfway across the channel of the river.
Severe weather and lack of underwater visibility Tuesday hampered the search for Figueroa, who police say presumably drowned near Lock 11 of the Erie Canal Tuesday afternoon.
The Amsterdam Police Department says they began receiving calls around 4 p.m. for a man who had gone underwater in the river near Lock 11.
Police say Figueroa was swimming in that part of the river towards nearby Bronson Island, under the belief that his 13-year-old brother, also in the water, was having trouble getting to the island. While attempting to reach the island, Figueroa began to struggle and went under.
Police say the river surface current as well as the
temperature of the water, which was around 60 degrees, may have been a contributing factor in the
drowning. They say there was
also a strong bottom current in the main channel.
Divers pulled his body from the same spot witnesses saw him go under.
The teen's body has been sent to St. Mary's Hospital, where the family was able identify him.
Amsterdam Police would like to remind people that the river is
not a safe place to swim due to unpredictable currents, cold water temperatures
and distances to bodies of land that can be deceiving from the shorelines.
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