2 bodies found off Rockaways over a week after teen swimmers disappeared

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Police discovered two bodies in the water off the shore of the Rockaways in Queens, just over a week after two teenage boys went missing while swimming in the area.

One body was recovered at about 9 p.m. on Saturday off of Beach 114th Street and the Ocean Promenade, while the other was found at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday about two miles off of Jacob Riis Park, where the boys were last spotted.

While the bodies have not been identified, the NYPD described both as male. The medical examiner will determine their cause of death.

Eight days before the first body was found, 16-year-old Elyjha Chandler and 17-year-old Christian Perkins vanished while swimming off of Jacob Riis Park beach.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry told reporters on June 21 that witnesses said the boys tried to jump up and slice a large wave before being pulled from sight.

“The wave was extremely high, and it went on top of them and sucked them over. We think that it may be a riptide, but that’s still under investigation,” Daughtry said.

An extensive search was carried out by local agencies, the U.S. Park Police and the U.S. Coast Guard in the days following the teens’ disappearance.

Elyjha Chandler’s father and other family were at Jacob Riis Park on Sunday as police investigated the scene, the New York Daily News reported .