Public Safety & Justice

Crews recover body of missing swimmer from Potomac River after daylong search

16-year-old male was with friends when he went under the water and did not resurface; police to release identity and cause of death

Ceoli Jacoby

July 3, 2026 5:45 p.m.

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The Potomac River near Great Falls. Photo credit: Joseph Thompson for the Montgomery County Council

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews on Friday recovered the body of a swimmer who went missing in the Potomac River early Thursday morning, according to a post on social media from MCFRS spokesperson David Pazos.

Pazos said the identity of the swimmer, described Thursday in MCFRS radio transmissions as a 16-year-old male wearing dark swim trunks, would be released by police.

The teen’s body was taken to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, which will determine a cause of death, Pazos said.

MCFRS swift water team units were dispatched at approximately 6:15 a.m. Thursday to the Great Falls Park area of the Potomac River for a report of a person missing in the water. The teen’s body was recovered at approximately 9 a.m. Friday, Pazos said.

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According to MCFRS radio transmissions on Thursday, the swimmer was with a group of friends when he went under the water. His body was ultimately recovered Friday near where he was last seen between the Sandy Landing Boat Ramp and the Maryland shore, Pazos said.

Update~@mcfrs Swift Water Team members located the missing male south of Sandy Landing this morning at 9AM during morning searches. This location is near the location where the male was last seen in the water. @mcfrsPIO https://t.co/sf1Dv7XcGy pic.twitter.com/PhMVvsqOrw
— Pazos@mcfrsPIO (@DavidPazos15) July 3, 2026

The teen is the second young person to die while swimming in the Potomac River in recent weeks.

On June 14, 20-year-old Nazir Bell of Germantown went missing near Billy Goat Trail A and Sandy Landing in the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Bell was found drowned on June 16 following a search and rescue operation that lasted about 20 hours over three days.

Swimming in the Potomac River is highly dangerous and discouraged by public safety officials. During a Tuesday press conference at the Isiah “Ike” Leggett Executive Office Building in Rockville, MCFRS Battalion Chief Tony Scott cautioned county residents to only swim in bodies of water that are guarded.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine