A young man was found in the water off a Jersey Shore beach Saturday morning, and police believe he's a swimmer who went missing last Sunday while trying to save two relatives.
Tropical Storm Fay brought rough waters to the Shore last week - and to the Great Egg Harbor Inlet, where Jabed Ikbal, 24, was swimming with his family. The inlet connects the Great Egg Harbor Bay with the Atlantic Ocean and has dangerous currents.
Ikbal spotted two family members who were in trouble in the water and went in to help them, relatives told NBC10. While the family members made it safely back to the beach, Ikbal went missing in the water. His family had prayed for his safe return.
Six days later, around 6 a.m. Saturday, a fisherman noticed a body near Dog Beach in Egg Harbor Township. That's the opposite side of the inlet from where Ikbal went missing in Ocean City, police said.
The man's body was pulled onto a Longport Fire Department boat and taken to the Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office to be definitively identified. Ikbal's family has been notified of the discovery, police said.
The search for Ikbal was one of at least three separate water rescue operations in Ocean City last Sunday. Two days earlier, police combed the Atlantic Ocean for an 18-year-old who died saving two friends' lives in the water off Ventnor.
NBC10's Ted Greenberg contributed to this report. He previously reported on the search for Ikbal, and you can watch that report below.
