Police and Fire

Body of Missing Kayaker Found

The story of a kayaking fisherman gone missing on Thursday night in the Navesink River came to a tragic end as the body of Bordentown resident Nedim Aksoy, 50, was recovered in Sandy Hook Bay near Plum Island on Monday morning, U.S. Coast Guard authorities said.

Before the Coast Guard confirmed Aksoy’s recovery information, positive identity and official details, there were initial reports by Rumson Oceanic Marina management on social media that Aksoy’s body had been found.

The marina is in the area where Aksoy and another fisherman friend had been out on the Navesink. Friends and family gathered as the search began and ended and over the weekend while the search was underway. Marina personnel had made a plea to the public for help in a continued water surface search and private divers when the search was called off due to inclement weather by authorities on Friday morning.

The kayaker went missing after the boat he and a friend went fishing on the Navesink River Thursday night capsized in a bout of stormy weather, Rumson First Aid Squad said in a Facebook post on Friday. One of the pair made it to the shore. The other went missing in the water.

The squad, in cooperation with the NJ State Police Marine Bureau, U.S. Coast Guard and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team and Rumson Fire Department searched through Thursday night into Friday morning for the missing man.

Coast Guard officials had said that Aksoy was not wearing a life jacket. The kayak had washed up on the shore of the Navesink in Rumson.

“The two kayakers were out last night when they fell out of the kayak,” Pappaly said. One of the men swam to shore. The kayak also washed up on the shore in Rumson, Pappaly said.

The search was halted on Friday morning due to stormy weather forecasts and severe currents.

By Saturday, friends and relatives of Aksoy had taken to the water with their own rented boats and the help of some boaters docked in slips at the Oceanic Marina to conduct their own search as Rumson Fire Department members continued to comb the water’s surface, Oceanic Marina management posted on Facebook. The family was trying to find a private diver to continue the underwater search.

Aksoy’s Facebook page showed a post from April that ironically said “A fisherman is always ready.” He was not wearing a life preserver vest, authorities said.

Photo/Facebook post screenshot

Aksoy’s Facebook page shows posts about and photos of fishing expeditions. In one post, he talked about catching large fish in Keyport.

“Remember to always familiarize yourself with the environmental conditions, always wear a life jacket and never go out on the water without telling anyone,” Rumson First Aid Squad said to the public in a post on Facebook about the incident.