OYSTER BAY, NY — The family of missing 19-year-old boater Jack Koch said Monday that his body was recovered Sunday night in Oyster Bay.
The body of Koch, who was from Locust Valley, was recovered by a local fisherman near Caumsett Park, in Lloyd Neck Harbor, his family said.
In a statement to Patch, the family said that while their hearts are broken “at the loss of Jack, we are relieved he has been returned to us and grateful for the outpouring of love, generosity, and support from our wonderful community.”
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“Jack was the most loyal, kind, and hardworking young man and we will hold him in our hearts forever,” the family said.
The family credited the multiple agencies that aided the search, including Nassau police’s Marine Bureau, the U.S. Coast Guard, New York Police Department’s Aviation Bureau, and the Oyster Bay Constable, as well as the Bayville and the Oyster Bay fire departments, Christian Aid Ministries, and “many local friends and family members.”
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Police received a call about the body of a dead person in the water just before 1 p.m., and personnel from the police department’s Marine Bureau, along with Oyster Bay constables recovered it before taking it to Theodore Roosevelt Marina in Oyster Bay, Nassau police said.
The body was then taken to the Nassau County Medical Examiner’s office for evaluation, according to police.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
Koch fell off a sailboat near Centre Island on May 15, prompting a massive multi-agency search of the surrounding water.
The U.S. Coast Guard officials suspended its search the following day after a 20-hour search, officials said.
He had fallen into the water while he was out with an 18-year-old friend sailing at around 11:30 p.m., and when he could not be found, the friend called another friend who was onshore, Nassau police said.
The teen, along with two other males, then took a boat and was able to find the sailboat along with the 18-year-old, but the 19-year-old could not be found, according to police.
The U.S. Coast Guard was contacted after a good Samaritan reported there were two people who fell in the water from a sailboat, near Lloyd Point at the entrance to Oyster Bay, at about 1 a.m., according to Petty Officer John Hightower.
Several boats, including from the Coast Guard’s Eatons Neck station, Oyster Bay Constable, the Bayville and Oyster Bay fire departments, and Nassau police’s Marine Bureau responded as part of a water search.
Helicopters from the aviation units of Nassau police and the New York Police Department, as well as a Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod, were all called in for overflight searches.
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The search took place over 851 nautical square miles, the coast guard said.
The teen went missing days after officials recovered the body of James Jaronszyk from Great South Bay.
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