Body of missing girl found in New Jersey river after 2-day search, officials say

The body of a missing child has been found in the Passaic River in New Jersey after a two-day search, officials said Friday.

Passaic Mayor Hector Lora said the 10-year-old girl’s body was found in the water south of the Market Street Bridge just before 7 p.m. ET Friday.

Crews have been searching the river since Wednesday evening, when police say three children were swept into the water while they were playing near a boat ramp at Pulaski Park in Passaic.

One child, an 11-year-old girl, was able to get out of the river on her own, but the other two children, a 10-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, went missing in the water.

Search teams found the boy’s body in the river late Wednesday night, but they were unable to find the missing girl.

The search resumed Thursday and continued all day Friday, covering nearly nine miles of the Passaic River using boats, sonar, drones and cadaver dogs. Crews were just about to end the search for the evening when first responders received reports of a sighting, Lora said.

According to Lora, a couple who lives in a building near the Market Street Bridge saw something in the river from their apartment window and ran outside to look, suspecting it could be the missing girl. When they saw what they believed to be the body, Lora said they immediately called 911.

“We are so grateful to this couple. Some people would’ve seen something obscure and went back into their apartment, but not this couple,” Lora said.

Lora said boats were deployed, and crews recovered the girl’s body in Wallington, New Jersey, about 100 feet from the bridge.

The girl’s family was taken to the scene, and the child’s mother was able to see the body, Lora said.

“Obviously, there was some relief that she was able to see her child, but at the same time, extreme grief and understanding that there was confirmation that she has lost her daughter,” Lora said.

Lora said the family wanted to thank the local communities for their support over the past few days, but asked for privacy during this difficult time.

Officials said all three children are from Garfield, New Jersey, but one family has ties to Passaic.

“I’m just so grateful that the body was recovered. Unfortunately, it’s not the outcome we wanted, but it gives the family tonight some peace,” Garfield Mayor Everett Garnto Jr. said. “The mother was able to see her daughter, and she was so very distraught, she was, but when she came back and sat down, she said, ‘She looked just like she was when she left the house.’ So I’m glad it brought the mother peace.”

The 11-year-old girl and the 10-year-old boy are siblings, Lora said.

The names of the children have not been released.