A man vanished in the ocean near Field 3 at Robert Moses State Park Saturday afternoon, last seen in the water around 2:30 p.m. before he disappeared from view; officials did not see him exit the ocean. His identity remains unknown, and officials have described him only as a white male wearing dark-colored shorts.
According to News12 Long Island, officials said the man was seen in the ocean when he disappeared from view and was not seen exiting the water, and search efforts are set to resume Sunday. Authorities have asked the public for help identifying him, and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Officials are also asking anyone with a family member, friend or acquaintance who is unaccounted for and may have been at the park to contact investigators. Both New York State Park Police and New York State Police are involved in the search, per the same report, and can be reached at 631-321-3700 and 631-756-3300, respectively.
Swimming Remains Banned Amid Storm Conditions
Officials reminded the public that swimming is currently prohibited at the park, and they urged beachgoers to use extreme caution because of ongoing storm conditions, the outlet reported. The warning underscores just how unpredictable and dangerous the surf has become along this stretch of Long Island's south shore in recent days.
Robert Moses State Park is a heavily used ocean beachfront facility, drawing nearly 3.8 million visitors a year across a shoreline of almost five miles, according to New York State Parks. That volume of beachgoers, paired with the open Atlantic surf, has long made water safety a persistent concern for officials who patrol the park.
A History of Rescue Calls Along This Stretch of Coast
Water emergencies are not new to the barrier-island communities near Robert Moses. Town of Islip Harbormasters responded to nine search-and-rescue missions in 2022 and had already logged three more by mid-May 2023, according to a report from Fire Island News. That same report noted that state park police had expanded their drone fleet to 18 aircraft after purchasing 10 additional units for ocean-beach safety operations, while two new Yamaha WaveRunners were assigned to lifeguards at Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park. State officials also increased the buffer zone separating swimming areas from surf-fishing zones as an added precaution, per that same account.
Those measures date to 2023 and are not confirmed to reflect current staffing or equipment at the park. Waters near Fire Island Inlet, close to Robert Moses, have seen tragedy before — a 2016 case detailed by Newsday involved a body pulled from the inlet identified as a missing boater, though no connection to the current search has been established.
For now, the man's identity, his condition, and the outcome of the search remain unknown. Anyone with information is urged to contact New York State Park Police or New York State Police using the numbers listed above.
