OCEAN CITY – The body of a swimmer who went missing off a north end beach July 12 was recovered over the weekend and positively identified.
The Southern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office on Sunday identified the body of an adult male found floating in the Great Egg Harbor Inlet as Jabed Ikbal, 24, of Clementon.
Ikbal went into the water at an unprotected beach in the far north end of Ocean City, on the Great Egg Harbor Inlet just south of the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, about 7:27 p.m. Sunday, July 12.
According to Ocean City officials, when first responders arrived on July 12, family members said a bather had not returned to shore. The Ocean City Police Department, Ocean City Fire Department, Ocean City Beach Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, Longport Volunteer Fire Department, Longport Beach Patrol and Scullville Volunteer Fire Department personnel responded and immediately began to search for the bather.
“The initial investigation indicates that Ikbal entered the water to assist two other family members who were in trouble,” city officials said last week. “The two made it safely to the beach, but Ikbal did not. Strong daily tidal currents create dangerous conditions at the beach where Ikbal disappeared.”
The search was called off on Tuesday, July 14.
A fisherman found the body in the inlet at about 6 a.m. Saturday, July 18, and it was recovered by a Longport Fire Department marine patrol.