Robert Moses search won't continue after no one reported missing

Authorities decided not to resume a search Friday morning after beachgoers said they might have seen a swimmer in distress at Robert Moses State Park, according to State Park police.

"Basically, no one was reported missing, so the search was not resumed," a spokeswoman for the park police said.

On Thursday around 8 p.m., a group of beachgoers told police a swimmer might be lost near Field 5.

"Several people saw what they believed to be a man with dark hair floating on his back 200 to 300 yards offshore," State Park Police Sgt. Anthony Astacio said Thursday night. "They were concerned because he was so far out and it was getting dark."

But at least one of the people in the group said he thought they were wrong, and what they saw might have been something else, not a man, Astacio said.

They decided to call 911 as a precaution, he said.

State Park police, the Coast Guard, the Suffolk Marine Bureau and a Suffolk police helicopter responded. There was an extensive search, but no one was found and the search was suspended at 10 p.m., police said.

With Bill Mason