Authorities today pulled a body out of a frozen New Jersey lake after a frantic, desperate search for a pair of teens who fell through the ice while fishing.
Dozens of rescue workers and divers stormed the shoreline along Budd Lake in Mount Olive where residents heard screams yesterday evening.
Two residents took a boat out onto the lake shortly after the first screams for help but could not find anyone.
“Imagine screaming and knowing you’re going to die,” Clyde Schimanski Jr. the father of one of the teens, Clyde III, told the Newark Star Ledger..
“He died a horrible death.”
Young Clyde’s mother, Laurie Halloran, said she had warned the boys not to go out on the lake.
“The last thing I said to them was don’t go out on the lake,” Halloran said. “It’s not safe.”
The distraught father, who also has two daughters as well, said he last saw his son before school on Monday around 5:30 a.m.
Schimanski said his son may have gone out on the lake after seeing gliders on the ice last week.
Schimanski said he thinks there should be a sign warning people not to go on the ice.
Schimanski said Clyde loved working on his motorcycle and had been dating a girl for the past three months.
“She’s great,” Schimanski said of his son’s girlfriend. “He was so happy. She’s the kind of girl to straighten him out. She had him talking about going to college and everything.”
The family of the other boy was in Budd Lake Chapel Tuesday morning surrounded by supporters.
Mount Olive Mayor Rob Greenbaum said on his Facebook page Monday night that it was “likely” that the teenagers lost their lives.
“Once again I am sad to report that we likely lost two young adults in Mount Olive this evening,” Greenbaum said. “May God bless their families and help ease their pain.”