Bodies of 2 missing swimmers found at Penbryn Lake in Winslow Township, New Jersey, police say
WINSLOW TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- The bodies of two swimmers who went missing on Monday were recovered from the Penbryn Lake in Winslow Township, New Jersey, police said.
Authorities have ruled the deaths an "accidental drowning." A witness told police that his two friends went swimming in the lake and did not resurface.
The two swimmers went missing at around 2:45 p.m., according to police. The search for the missing swimmers lasted more than two hours. It included divers, ground responders from state and county authorities and K-9 units scouring the woods.
One of the victims was a 23-year-old from Clementon, New Jersey, and the other was a 24-year-old from Gloucester Township, New Jersey, police said.
An uncle of the 24-year-old said his nephew was swimming in the lake with friends when tragedy struck.
"My men were out picking tomatoes when I went out in the field to give them Gatorade and the police officer was in the field and said, 'Would you ask your men if they saw two men coming from the woods?' I asked my men and they didn't see anyone walk through our field," said Barbara Stella, who owns a nearby farm.
Stella's farm borders the lake that she says was once a quarry for sand mining. She described it as dangerously deep.
"When we were kids, we were forbidden to go back to that lake because it's so deep," Stella said. "That's why there's signs up – no swimming. Because it's a legend it just drops right off because it's a quarry."
A vandalized sign posted by New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, which oversees the lake, warns against swimming.
However, grieving family members believe the two victims drowned because they might not have known the lake's depth.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office is ruling out foul play, considering this an accidental drowning as well.
"It gives me chills to think about it because now this is the second time that somebody has possibly drowned in the lake," Stella said.