The search efforts for a missing 15-year-old girl, who was last seen in the East River near Roosevelt Island, have resumed. NYPD dive teams and an NYPD helicopter are scouring the area after the teen vanished into the river's waters on Friday afternoon, NBC New York reports.
Authorities were alerted to the situation at approximately 12:15 p.m. on Friday after a friend of the missing girl, who reportedly cannot swim, urged her to leave the water. The current, however, swiftly carried her away. According to The New York Post, the girl had been sitting on rocks along the river's edge before the incident occurred, and her distraught friend notified police when she disappeared.
Divers from both the NYPD and FDNY initially searched for the teen on Friday upon receiving reports that she entered the water and did not emerge. Officials said the NYPD continued the search with harbor units after initial efforts by FDNY did not locate anyone. Personal items, including white sneakers, a jacket, and books, were found neatly placed by a guardrail, suggesting that the teen may have gone into the water intentionally.
Saturday's search involved NYPD Harbor Unit vessels, which are likely employing side-scanning sonar technology to help locate the girl. "The video shows her being dragged north," a police source detailed, indicating that surveillance footage captured the teen being swept away by the current. A local resident, Adrina Hegbeli, expressed her devastation to reporters on Saturday, stating, "It is a tragedy," recounting the presence of the girls by the river on the day prior to the incident, according to the The New York Post.
Despite speculations that the teen may have entered the water to retrieve a dropped phone, no witness accounts corroborate this theory. The search, hampered by the East River's notorious currents and poor underwater visibility, is still underway. The identity of the missing girl has yet to be released by authorities as the investigation continues.
