Police were searching early Saturday for two teenagers who disappeared into the waters at Jacob Riis Park in Queens the night before, amid a wave of oppressive heat poised to carry through the weekend.
The 16- and 17-year-old boys, who have not been publicly identified by authorities, appeared to struggle in the water before falling out of witnesses’ view at around 6:30 p.m. Friday, police said.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said officials were investigating whether a rip current pulled the teenagers under.
“When officers arrived, they were met by numerous beachgoers that said that there was a wave that came in,” Daughtry told reporters at the beach on Friday. “The teens tried to jump up to kind of slice the wave. The wave was extremely high, and it went on top of them and sucked them over.”
As of 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the NYPD said its boats, helicopters and drone units were still searching for the teenagers.