Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Missing Temple Teen

Temple U. freshman got caught in strong currents off Ocean City

The United Stated Coast Guard suspended its search for a 19-year-old Temple University freshman who was last seen in the waters off the shore near Ocean City, N.J.

Rescuers started searching for Josias Sterling, a recent graduate of St. Joe's Prep, around 1 p.m. Friday from the air, ground and water after receiving reports of two swimmers in distress, caught in the current just north of Longpoint Bridge.

Sterling and a friend went out in the water early Friday off the Great Egg Harbor inlet at the north of Ocean City. They were swept out in the powerful currents. The friend made it out of the water. Rescuers were left searching for the Sterling.

"We saw him bobbing along a little while and then we didn't see him anymore," said Kasey McCarthy, a girl who knows Sterling.

When the teens first got into trouble, some people on the beach thought they were just horsing around.

"They went in the water, waist deep, and you know boys, we thought they were just yelling, having fun and a lady comes up to us and says, 'I think they're really in trouble,' " said McCarthy.

No lifeguards were stationed in the inlet area.

"There's strong currents out there in this inlet, it's a very dangerous inlet to navigate with a boat. It's probably even more dangerous when you go swimming in it, the farther out you get," said Lt. Ang.

The family of the Philadelphia teen was on their way to Ocean City Friday night to help with the search.

"I've never seen anything like this before so it's just, it's just unreal. I never thought it would happen to someone I knew," said Jessica Nichols, another girl who knows the missing swimmer.

The Coast Guard suspended their search just after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, after searching approximately 31 square miles.

The apparent drowning marks the second time in a month that visitors have died while swimming off an unguarded beach in a Cape May County inlet, the Press of Atlantic City reports. On June 30, a 27-year-old from South Carolina and a 15-year-old from Connecticut died while swimming in North Wildwood's Hereford Inlet. 

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