Posted on 03/09/2006 9:12:39 AM PST by Coleus
The mild winter let officials probe Round Valley Reservoir for six men missing for years.
CLINTON, N.J. - Authorities call it "New Jersey's Bermuda Triangle," a watery place where people disappear. The description held true yesterday after a 41/2-hour search of the Round Valley Reservoir in Hunterdon County failed to turn up any trace of six missing boaters and fishermen, some last seen in 1973.
Weather and water conditions were ideal this week for an expanded search: A relatively dry winter has left the 180-foot-deep reservoir eight feet below normal, exposing an additional 30 to 90 feet of shoreline. Thirty state police, FBI, and Bergen County sheriff's officers fanned out on foot and in boats to look for skeletal remains, clothing or other signs of the six men, all presumed drowned.
"It would be nice to bring some closure, not only to our open cases but to the families involved," State Police Detective Sgt. Jim Price said before the search. "That's the goal." By the time the search ended at 3 p.m., teams had spotted 24 bones or bone fragments, but all had come from animals.
Since 1971, 25 people have drowned at the reservoir, said Lt. Jim McCormick, supervisor of the state police's missing persons unit.
The oldest unsolved case dates to May 4, 1973, when Thomas Trimblett, 27, of North Arlington, and Christopher Zajaczkowski of Jersey City, whose age was unknown, were fishing from a 12-foot aluminum boat that was found capsized. On March 15, 1977, Craig Stier, 18, and Andrew Fasanella, 20, both of Trenton, launched a canoe from a boat ramp and were last seen paddling along the north shoreline. Four days later, their canoe was found washed ashore with some camping gear.
On March 18, 1989, John Kubu, 37, of Rahway, and Albert Lawson, whose age and hometown were not available, failed to return from a fishing trip. Their 13-foot aluminum boat and personal items were found on the shoreline. Lawson's body was found that October. On Oct. 22, 1993, Jeffrey Moore, 27, of Ringwood, was fishing with a friend when their canoe ran into trouble. The friend was rescued by a passing boater, who told authorities that Moore had drowned after the canoe took on water.
Because the prevailing wind is from the west, yesterday's search centered on the resevoir's eastern shore, where most debris eventually washes up. Two teams fanned out to the north and south, marking the location of each bone or bone fragment found with a small orange flag. Each bone was examined by Donna Fontana, a forensic anthropologist with the state police, who instantly realized that each had come from an animal. A ripped and tattered green-and-white baseball cap found wrapped around a tree branch was too damaged to help the investigation.
On two boats, cadaver-sniffing dogs were brought in to find telltale gases that decaying bodies emit. The dogs can smell the gases even as the gases rise from deep underwater, said Katrene Johnson, a handler with West Jersey K-9 Search & Rescue. Her dog, Morgan, had found several bodies underwater in the past, but not so much time had elapsed since the drownings. The next step will be to search sections of the reservoir with a special underwater robotic camera, Price said. That search has not yet been scheduled.
Slow news day and too much money burning a hole in some police agencies pockets.
Nice place, great fishing.
and I guess looking for bodies, separating bones and doing DNA tests after 9-11 was a waste of time too.
Get a grip, apples & oranges.
oh really, dead people at the bottom of a reservoir aren't missed by their loved ones as much as the dead people in a pile of rubble in NYC. I see how that is very different. And I guess we shouldn't look for and remove the remains of POW's in Vietnam and other areas too.
reminds me of that x-files episode where an alligator is gobbling people up...
Maybe it's this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil
That's right. Those people are dead. Screw 'em. /sarc
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