RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC. Gothamist Listen Live Donate News 10-year-old girl's body found in Passaic River, after 3 kids were swept into waters By Brittany Kriegstein Published Aug 1, 2026 at 8:38 a.m. ET
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The body of a 10-year-old girl was recovered from the Passaic River Friday evening after a days-long search for the child, who was swept into the river earlier this week.
The girl is the second child to die in the incident. Three children were playing near a boat ramp in Pulaski Park around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when the river pulled them in, according to local multiple news reports earlier this week . An 11-year-old girl was able to get out of the river on her own, but rescuers were not able to immediately find a 10-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl.
“Tonight, a rainbow stretched across the sky over the place where this little girl was recovered from the river and brought onto land,” Passaic City Mayor Hector Lora wrote in a post on social media. “In a day filled with heartbreak, it was a sight that many of us will never forget.”
Search teams found the boy’s body on Wednesday night, but kept looking for the girl until a couple in a residential building on the corner of Market and South streets in the Wallington neighborhood looked out their window and saw something in the water, Lora said.
“They immediately ran down on the remote chance that it could be the little girl that everyone was looking for,” Lora said in a press conference Friday evening. He said they called 911, and first responders who were still stationed in the area came back over.
The child was recovered about 100 feet from the Market Street bridge, Lora said. He brought her family to the site, where the mother was able to see her daughter for the last time.
“I want to thank the medical examiner for her professionalism, her compassion and her heart. As a parent, she understood the sensitivity of the circumstances around this, how this mother has been waiting by the river for three days,” Lora said. “Obviously there was some relief that she was able to see her child, but at the same time, extreme grief, understanding that there was confirmation that she had lost her daughter."
Lora urged families to tell their children to stay away from the bodies of water in local parks.
“They can be deceptively inviting and incentivizing to come and play around them, but it can be extremely dangerous,” he said.
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected] .
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