First responders recover body of 20-year-old Germantown swimmer 

Recovery ends multiple-day search operation on Potomac River

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June 16, 2026 7:16 p.m.

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Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews and other emergency responders recovered the body of 20-year-old Nazir Bell on Tuesday afternoon after the Germantown man went missing while swimming in the Potomac River on Sunday evening.  

“Throughout the operation, family members remained nearby, holding vigil and awaiting word from responders,” MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer said on social media shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. “Our thoughts are with the family.”  

Piringer later told Bethesda Today in a text message that Bell’s body was recovered around 2 p.m. The recovery ended an operation that lasted roughly 20 hours over three days.  

Around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, local law enforcement agencies and MCFRS crews, including the department’s swift water rescue team, were dispatched for a report of a swimmer in distress in the river near Billy Goat Trail A and Sandy Landing in the C&O Canal National Historical Park, Piringer told Bethesda Today on Monday morning.  

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“We were able to get there pretty quickly and deploy boats pretty quickly,” Piringer said. 

Piringer said Tuesday that about 50 responders spent four hours searching on Sunday. Rescue crews and first responders, including Montgomery County police and U.S. Park Police, searched the area for several hours on Sunday and stopped around sunset at 8:30 p.m., according to Piringer. 

The search continued for at least seven hours each day on Monday and Tuesday.  

The man was among a group of “young adults” who had been swimming in the river across from Sandy Landing, which is where Bell was last seen, according to Piringer. While swimming, Bell called out for help, went underwater and never resurfaced.  

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On Sunday, crews searched around the Potomac River’s shorelines, using sonar and thermal imaging, Piringer said. Six rescue boats crisscrossed the river, double- and triple-checking areas for Bell. A search helicopter flew above and about 50 people in total assisted but were not successful in finding Bell. 

Bell was a graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High and was attending Towson University, according to a flyer posted on social media by his family.   

“Nazir is a kind, smart and ambitious young man with a bright future,” said the flyer, which was included in a MCFRS social media post on Tuesday before Bell’s body was recovered. “His family, friends, and community are desperately asking for your help to bring him home.”   

Bell’s family told Fox 5 prior to his body being recovered that the situation was a tragedy.  

“He went out with his friends and he told me he was going to Virginia and I didn’t know that yesterday was gonna be my last day,” Bell’s mother said about seeing her missing son.   

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine