Body washes up at Manasquan Inlet amid search for missing NJ boater

🔴 Derek Narby has been missing since a boat he was on capsized on Sept. 14

🔴 A body washed ashore from the Manasquan Inlet on Saturday

🔴 Officials have not confirmed the body's identity

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Nine days after a massive wave capsized a boat in the Manasquan Inlet, a body has appeared on land.

The body washed ashore in Point Pleasant Beach on Saturday amid higher waters and minor flooding due to Tropical Storm Ophelia, State Police confirmed to New Jersey 101.5.

"At 3:05 p.m., Troopers were dispatched to Channel Drive in Point Pleasant Beach in response to a report of an unidentified body found washed up," Det. Jeffrey Lebron said.

The identity of the body was still pending as of Sunday afternoon, Det. Lebron said in an update.

Derek Narby missing for over a week

The discovery on Saturday came nine days after a ten-foot wave capsized a 31-foot boat in the Manasquan Inlet around 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14. While the inlet is normally calm, the waves were unusually powerful due to Hurricane Lee churning waters hundreds of miles off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

Father David Narby and his 23-year-old son Dawson were rescued by Point Pleasant Beach police. But officers couldn't find Derek Narby, a 21-year-old former Brick Memorial baseball player. The three had been at sea and were making their way back to shore when the wave hit in the inlet.

The U.S. Coast Guard searched the waters the following day but called off their search on Sept. 15. New Jersey State Police took over the search that weekend.

Using sonar and scuba divers, State Police have spent over a week trying to locate the capsized vessel. It was feared that Narby had been trapped in the hull of the boat.

Recovery teams located the stern in the inlet on Sept. 17. It was upside down. Since then pieces of the boat have washed up in Seaside Heights.

Includes previous reporting from Dan Alexander.

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