Nine hours into the search for a missing teen off the coast of Ocean City, hope that he'd be rescued waned.
"Although we're still out on the water and in the beach, the likelihood that he's still alive and the water the percentages are decreasing rapidly," said Ocean City police officer Lt. Steven Ang.
The 19-year old 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. One made it out of the water. Rescuers were left searching for the other.
"We saw him bobbing along a little while and then we didn't see him anymore," said Kasey McCarthy, a girl who knows the 19-year old.
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 are 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.
Rescuers started searching around 1 p.m. from the air, ground and water. 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 teen's name isn't being released by police yet.
