Suffolk cops: Passing boat finds body a mile off Fire Island
Suffolk police said boaters discovered a man’s body in waters off Fire Island Monday afternoon, but the person’s identity and how he died were unknown.
The body, which was located by a passing boat shortly before 1 p.m. about a mile off Fire Island Inlet and Robert Moses Park, was transported to the medical examiner’s office for identification and to determine the cause of death, police said.
The find comes nearly a week after a Babylon man went missing after the fishing boat carrying him and two others capsized last Tuesday near Fire Island Inlet.
Roberto Vasquez, 50, was aboard the 21-foot boat with Carlos Hernandez, 36, of Wyandanch, and Erik Flores, 30, of Amityville, when the vessel overturned that night in waters about 200 yards south of Cedar Beach, the Coast Guard and Suffolk police said.
Search teams from the Coast Guard and the Suffolk police marine bureau began looking for the three men after a commercial fishing vessel called 911 to report the capsized boat about 6 p.m.
A short time later, crew members on the vessel plucked Flores from the water and a Coast Guard crew pulled Hernandez to safety near the capsized vessel, officials said.
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.”
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
