A round-the-clock search for a Hempstead boy who disappeared while swimming in Long Beach was called off Wednesday as hopes for his survival in the Atlantic Ocean dimmed. Over the course of less than 24 hours, scores of people from more than a dozen agencies, along with off-duty lifeguards and private vessels, had scoured the shoreline and miles of ocean for the 10-year-old boy. Long Beach authorities and the Coast Guard, whose crews kept looking overnight by boat, said they ended efforts mainly due to the length of time the boy had been missing, the water temperature and the currents. The child had on only his swim trunks and no life jacket when he went swimming Tuesday with his brother, 11, said Capt. Kevin B. Reed, commander of Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. The two brothers had taken a bus by themselves to the beach, Long Beach police said, and they were swimming near Ocean Beach Park, off Edwards Boulevard, when they became separated just before 6 p.m. as the waters got choppy. “The two of them apparently try to leave the water,” said Lt. Eric Cregeen of Long Beach police. “The 11-year-old got out, turns around and sees his brother was having trouble and was submerged.” Get the Nassau news this week newsletter! The biggest news, politics and crime stories in Nassau County, in your inbox every Friday at noon. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. The decision to pack up came after Coast Guard commanders met the boy’s mother on the boardwalk, near where her son went missing, and showed her nautical charts. They explained how the Coast Guard conducts searches for missing persons and asked whether she had any questions. The mother, driven by a man, declined to comment as they left Long Beach. The boy’s two young aunts were also at the scene and requested to go on a Coast Guard boat, but the search ended before they could, said Paul Gillespie, Long Beach lifeguard chief. “This is an exhausting thing mentally,” Gillespie said. “You hate to see such a young boy like that pass away in that type of situation.” Reports from 911 callers set off a water and air search about 6 p.m. Tuesday, Cregeen said. Gillespie said about 20 off-duty lifeguards swam along the shoreline, including Edwin Moriarty, 20, of Long Beach, who was part of a group that systematically “swept” through waters about 100 yards off the beach Tuesday as boat crews searched further out. “The waters were choppy,” Moriarty said. “It was ripping out hard. It definitely was not easy to search.” He added, “I felt awful for the family, and I just wanted to find him.” The Coast Guard said first responders covered more than 310 nautical miles. On Tuesday, after about two hours of searching, Long Beach fire and police officials deemed the effort a recovery mission. The Coast Guard, however, continued to characterize it as a rescue effort into Wednesday. The boy’s 11-year-old brother was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where his mother joined him Tuesday, officials said. He was in good condition but had been kept overnight for observation, Cregeen said. Detectives talked to the mother at the hospital Tuesday night to piece together what had happened, he said. Lifeguards are not on duty full-time until Saturday, when the beaches are fully open for the summer, city officials said. Gillespie, who has directed many rescue efforts, said he felt more motivation among the searchers than in previous missions, perhaps because the victim was so young. “Maybe it was because it was the first (search) of the summer, I don’t know,” he said. “I hope it’s the last.” The Coast Guard requested that anyone with information on the case call Sector Long Island Sound at 203-468-4401. With John Asbury, William Murphy and Ellen Yan CORRECTION: The boy missing in the waters off Long Beach is 10 years old and the beaches are fully open for the summer on Saturday. In a previous version of this story, the age was incorrect based on information provided by authorities and the opening day was incorrect.<doc-sep>Crime & Safety Long Beach Missing Swimmer: 8-Year-Old Boy Feared Dead An 8-year-old boy is feared dead after he reportedly became caught in a powerful rip current in the ocean. Reply LONG BEACH, NY – An 8-year-old boy is feared dead after he reportedly became caught in a powerful rip current in the ocean off Long Beach Tuesday evening. "All water rescue operations have been suspended for the night," the Long Beach Fire Department wrote on its Facebook page at 9:50 p.m. The missing boy was was last seen last seen swimming with his 11-year-old brother near Ocean Beach Park off Edwards Boulevard around 6 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. The older boy tried to hold onto his brother when they got caught in a rip current, but they were pulled apart, Long Beach Fire Commissioner Scott Kemins said, according to an NBC 4 report. Lifeguards were not on duty at the beach at the time. Long Beach lifeguards begin full-time summer staffing this weekend.<doc-sep>LONG BEACH, Nassau County (WABC) -- Search efforts will resume Wednesday morning for an 8-year-old boy who went missing after going swimming with his brother in the ocean off Nassau County.The boy had been swimming late Tuesday afternoon just off Riverside Boulevard in Long Beach.Police received several 911 calls for swimmers in distress.The boy's 11-year-old brother was able to swim out to shore after becoming separated from his sibling. He was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital for observation.In the frantic moments after the boy told police his little brother was drowning, rescue workers formed a human chain on Long Beach. "He was screaming so bad, he couldn't even talk, he was stuttering and everything. We felt so bad, we were trying to tell him 'calm down, calm down, where's your little brother?' I didn't know what to do," said Malaysia Maddox.She and her friends were on the beach when the boy came running from the water. He was terrified. "He was like, 'my little brother's drowning,'" Malaysia said. "He left us and went to some other people and no one was listening to him. "The girls called 911 and lifeguards went into the water with surfboards and jet skis to look for the 8-year-old, with Nassau County Police also on the scene on a jetty.Helicopters searched from above, while rescue boats worked from the water and emergency service workers searched the cracks and crevices of the jetty.The brothers, who are from Hempstead, were at the beach without their parentsThe beach was shut down for the search, which has now become a recovery effort.Officials say there were no lifeguards on duty at the time.----------<doc-sep>
LONG BEACH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A recovery effort was underway Tuesday evening after a boy reportedly went missing while swimming in the waters off of Long Island. Authorities say the 8-year-old was last seen swimming off the coast of Long Beach shortly before 6 p.m. “It’s a big body of water to try to find one victim,” Long Beach Fire Commissioner Scott Kemins said. “The conditions aren’t great in the water, there is very low visibility so it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Kemins says the child had been in the water with his 11-year-old brother. The older sibling was rescued and taken to an area hospital in stable condition. Chopper 2 was over the area as U.S. Coast Guard crews assisted the Nassau County Police Department in the search. Lifeguards linked arms to form a human chain as they searched the water near a jetty. Others scoured the water using jet skis, boats, and a helicopter. #NYPD Scuba team provides assistance in searching for a missing swimmer in Long Beach, Long Island. The divers are seen here conducting a pattern line dive search in the water. pic.twitter.com/pVciYp8K8R — NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) June 20, 2018 It wasn’t immediately known if the boys were at the beach with family members or friends, but Kemins says the area they were in is extremely dangerous. “There’s a rip current, it’s the Atlantic Ocean, and like I said, it’s dangerous,” he said. “They went in the water near the jetties and that’s the most dangerous place to go in the water.” Despite the warning signs, residents say more safeguards should be put in place. “This is not a swimming beach,” he said. “There should be more patrol here… this is every year, when is it going to stop?” Officials say Saturday is the first day of full-time lifeguards and as a result, there were none on duty Tuesday. “I think you have to watch your children,” beach goer Carol Hofman said. “Whether or not there’s a lifeguard, I do not take my eyes off my children.” NYPD Special Operations’ scuba team also assisted in the search late Tuesday. If anyone has further information regarding this case, please call Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound at 203-468-4401.