2 people, ages 17 and 22, drown at Mine Hill Beach in Morris County, N.J.

MINE HILL, NJ – The bodies of two young men who drowned Tuesday in a Mine Hill that borders Roxbury were recovered after an extensive search that went into the night, officials confirmed today.

The drownings of the men, described as 17-year-old and 22-year-old Hispanics, was reported in a statement from Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll, Chief of Detectives Christoph Kimker, Morris County Sheriff James Gannon, Roxbury Police Chief Dean Adone and Wharton Police Chief David Young.

Mine Hill, Roxbury, Randolph Beach
The sandy beach on Sunset Lake in Mine Hill where authorities believe two people, found in the water Tuesday, were swimming when they drowned (Photo Credit: Google Earth)

A search for the victims began at about 5:23 p.m. Tuesday. It included dive teams from many North Jersey municipalities as well as State Police and Picatinny Arsenal.

“An intensive search of the lake area where the subjects were last seen was immediately commenced using divers from responding police and EMS personnel, however the search was complicated due to tangled vegetation below the water surface,” said the authorities’ statement.

It added that, “After hours of searching, one body was recovered, and a second body subsequently recovered. Additional identifying information is pending further investigation and notification to family members, and will not be released at this time.”

The residencies of the victims was not revealed, but Mine Hill Mayor Sam Morris – in a Facebook post on Tuesday – said they were not from Mine Hill.

drowning, Mine Hill, Roxbury
Bodies recovered from lake along Roxbury borderPhoto Credit: Google Maps

The incident was revealed to authorities when “at 5:23pm, Morris County EMS was in the parking lot of the Mine Hill Beach, 100 Green Road in Mine Hill,” said the authorities’ statement. “EMS personnel were approached by a group who stated that two individuals went into the water at the sand pits and never came out.”

The sandy areas at the lake’s southern end, adjacent to Randolph, are popular for swimming although doing so is illegal.

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