Police: 4 Patchogue men rescued from Long Island Sound

Suffolk police Marine Bureau officers rescued four Patchogue men from a 10-foot inflatable raft after it drifted into the Long Island Sound north of Wildwood State Park in Wading River, authorities said.

A 911 caller reported the incident at 10:17 p.m. Sunday and responding Marine Bureau Officers Greg Stroh and Mike Malone, aboard Marine Delta, located the raft within 15 minutes with assistance from a helicopter from the Aviation Unit, police said.

The four occupants, identified as Jose Argueta, 22, William Argueta, 22, Noe Argueta, 19, and Selvin Argueta, 16, all of Patchogue, were taken aboard Marine Delta and transported, along with their raft, to the boat ramp in Mount Sinai.

Police said the four, believed to be two brothers and their cousins, launched from Wading River Beach to go fishing. The raft, which didn’t have a motor, drifted out into the Sound — leaving them "unable to paddle back due to the current," Suffolk police said.

Last Wednesday, Suffolk police and the U.S. Coast Guard recovered the bodies of two fishermen, identified at Roberto Murillo, 60, and Roberto Guevarra, 36, both of Huntington Station, from Smithtown Bay.

The duo had embarked aboard a small, motorized canoe from Makamah Beach in Fort Salonga sometime around 6:25 p.m. Tuesday. A relative alerted the authorities that they were missing at around 9:22 p.m.

The two men died despite the fact officials said both were wearing life jackets when recovered.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”