WARWICK, R.I. -- The body of the 16-year-old boy who was swept off a sandbar at Conimicut Point Sunday has been found Monday afternoon.
The body of the boy, whose identity was not released, was found submerged just northwest of the Conimicut Point Lighthouse, said Coast Guard command center chief Lt. Bryan Swintek. A cadaver dog on a boat "hit" on the body, which Warwick police divers found, Swintek said.
The Coast Guard, police and firefighters had searched nonstop for the boy since he was reported missing at 5 p.m. Sunday, Swintek said. The boy and another teen had been walking on the sandbar when they were swept off in the current. The other teen swam to a kayaker, but when they turned around, the 16-year-old boy was gone, Swintek said.
The warm air and water temperatures of 76 degrees meant that -- barring injuries or exhaustion -- the teen could feasibly survive 27 hours, before hypothermia would set it, Swintek said.
They searched by helicopter, boats and divers, Coast Guard, police and firefighters covering 152 square miles in hopes of finding him alive. "We gave him every chance we could," Swintek.
Conimicut Park was closed to the public, as the rescuers, police and the boy's family remained at the point, waiting for him to be found.
His family "was devastated," Swintek said.
Posted warnings about the dangerous current are often ignored by visitors, who walk the sandbar toward the lighthouse at low tide.
Mike Hague, of Warwick, said he's walked to the lighthouse at low tide, timing his walk before the tide turns.
When it does, the tide rises fast, on either side of the sandbar. "It's like it's coming in from two directions," Hague said. There's a drop off just before the lighthouse, which can catch people unaware, he said. "You've got to be careful, " Hague said.
He watched the search from a scenic overlook off Beach Avenue, just north of Conimicut Point. The lighthouse doesn't look to be that far away from the beach, he said. But when the tide comes in, the time to get back erodes fast.
"I think the kids didn't realize this," Hague said, "and then they panicked."
This entry was first posted at 12:46 p.m. and updated at 3:01 p.m.