The story, originally published May 25, was updated at 9:12 a.m. Tuesday to reflect that emergency responders had recovered a body presumed to be a swimmer missing since Friday night.
Swift water rescuers with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service on Monday morning recovered a body from the Potomac River that was found in the vicinity of a boat ramp off Macarthur Boulevard and across from the Old Anglers Inn in Potomac, according to authorities.
MCFRS spokesman Peter Piringer wrote on social media Monday morning that the body was presumed to be that of a man who went missing Friday night while attempting to swim across the river from the Virginia side.
Piringer noted that two swimmers had tried to swim across the river. “One of them became distressed and went under water and has been missing ever since,” he said. “That body has since been recovered.”
Montgomery County police are conducting a death investigation, Piringer said.
The department’s Swift Water Rescue Team had been searching for the missing swimmer since receiving a report about 8:40 p.m. Friday of a person who went in the river in the Sandy Landing area south of Great Falls. On Sunday, search crews using sonar discovered what appeared to be a body under rocks, Piringer wrote.
Crews were returning to continue their search Monday morning when a kayaker reported a body in the water, Piringer said.
On Friday night, bystanders on the Virginia side of the river saw a Hispanic male wearing black shorts go into the water and “he continued downstream,” according to the transmissions.
Another man entered the river to swim across, but he was later found to be on a trail in the Rocky Island area of the river, the transmissions said.
MCFRS swift water crews were assisted in Friday night’s search for the missing swimmer by rescue crews from Fairfax County and a U.S. Park Service helicopter, according to transmissions.
As of 11 p.m. Friday, an “exhaustive search by land, water, air has been suspended” for the night, Piringer posted on social media.
As summer approaches, local authorities are warning people about the dangers of swimming in the river because of its unpredictable currents and depths. Swimming and wading are prohibited.