HIGHLAND PARK — A body recovered from the Raritan River has been confirmed as that of a missing 10-year-old boy from New Brunswick, police said this evening.
UPDATE: 2 missing New Brunswick boys found dead in Raritan River
Meanwhile, a second body, believed to be the boy’s 11-year-old friend, also has been removed from the water about a half mile downriver.
Francisco Perera and Devine Nicholas were last seen Sunday by their mothers and had been the subject of a search by police.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
This afternoon, Francisco’s body was discovered on the Highland Park side of the river beneath the Route 27 bridge. The second body was discovered shortly after 6 p.m. by a State Police helicopter. The New Brunswick police and fire departments also had been taking part in the search.
New Brunswick missing.jpgView full sizeFrancisco Perera, left, and Devine Nicholas, in photos provided by the New Brunswick Police Department.
Devine’s mother, Carol Leonard, spoke to The Star-Ledger about her son before learning from police that a second body had been found. In an earlier visit to the home, police had told her they found Devine’s sneakers along the river’s shoreline.
Her son, she said, did not know how to swim. To her knowledge, the mother added, Devine and Francisco did not regularly go to the Raritan’s banks.
“They had no business at that river,” she said.
Rocking back and forth, her face filled with worry, Leonard called her son a fun and outgoing child who brought home all As and Bs in school.
“He is a good kid,” she said.
