New video shows the chilling moment two 13-year-old boys went missing after they jumped off a railway bridge into New York’s Hudson River on Friday.
Divers and police boats spent the weekend searching for the youths, whom authorities say never resurfaced after diving into the treacherous currents off the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge that connects Manhattan and the Bronx about 5:45pm.
The teens are believed to have been playing at the nearby Dyckman ballfield in Inwood Hill Park when they decided to strip off their clothes during a warm, sunny afternoon to go for a swim as horrified onlookers watched them dive into the water, police said.
Manny Flores and Isaiah Moronta, both 13, went missing after police say they jumped off a railway bridge into New York’s Hudson River on Friday
Divers and police boats spent the weekend searching for the two 13-year-old boys after they jumped off the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge on Friday
An NYPD search boat searches the waters off the Spuyten Duyvill railway bridge after two boys jumped off the crossing and went missing Friday
An FDNY boat also joined in the search for the two missing boys
Fire chiefs direct the search effort for the two missing boys from ashore
Additional fire personnel watch from ashore, some using binoculars, as boats continued their search for the missing boys this weekend
Friends and family members identified the youths as Manny Flores and Isaiah Moronta, the New York Post reports.
The five-second video footage obtained by the Post shows Isaiah already in the water and beginning to struggle.
Manny remains perched on the bridge looking down at Isaiah as he sizes up his own jump right before the footage stops.
A half-dozen police divers were able to retrieve the belongings of one of the boys from the water Saturday.
Relatives and friends huddled anxiously and prayed for the boys as they watched the searchers.
‘I had gotten a call from one of the parents telling me that my son jumped from the bridge, that’s all I heard. I hung up and called his phone, I have a tracker on him, and I saw that he was in the Hudson,’ Isaiah’s mother, Yvelise Beltry, 35, said.
‘When I called the phone his father picked up, crying. I came right over here. When I came here they told me he was trying to save another kid,’ she continued.
‘They took their clothes off and my son Isaiah went in first, he came out, and the other kid went in, but he was struggling, and my son went in to save him, and the current took them away,’ she added.
The mom said she was holding on to hope.
The teens are believed to have been playing at the Dyckman ballfields in Inwood Hill Park when they decided to strip off their clothes during a warm, sunny afternoon to go for a swim. Pictured is the Henry Hudson Bridge nearby
‘He’s somewhere, he’s somewhere…he’s with his friend,’ she said to the Post.
Manny’s godfather, Fernando Martinez, 36, said the family is heartbroken, the Daily News reports.
‘I’ve known Manny since he was born’ Martinez told the News. ‘It’s really kind of hard for us.’
‘His father is home taking care of his mother, his 10-year-old sister. They’re not doing well, they start crying,’ he added. ‘We’re struggling right now, we just want answers.’
Family friend, Rosanne Lopez said that after school Friday, her daughter went with a group including the two lost boys to get pizza on 207th Street.
‘I wanted her home early because of all this (corona)virus stuff,’ said Lopez. ‘I said you can go have the pizza but then come straight home and she was like ‘Okay.’ She didn’t fight me which was a miracle.’
‘They’re young, they’re adventurous. They think they’re invincible.’