Body recovered from water is missing Jersey City man, authorities confirm

Authorities have confirmed that a body pulled from the water at Long Pond Ironworks State Park Friday is that of a Jersey City man who had been missing since March 10.

In a statement Sunday afternoon, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said the body that was recovered from a body of water in the park known as "the mine hole" in West Milford is 21-year-old Wajhat Yaqoob.

Yaqoob's body was discovered in the mine hole at about 11:45 a.m. Friday, according to a statement released late Saturday by the Prosecutor's Office.  After being alerted by the NJ State Police, the body was pulled from the water at about 4 p.m.

The Jersey City man was last seen March 10 at about 7 p.m. after he jumped into the mine hole with several friends and never resurfaced, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

His friends called West Milford and State Park police and a search began immediately for Yaqoob in the rough water, the DEP said. The search was called off a few days later out of concern for the safety of the search divers, according to DEP spokesman Bob Considine, who said the mine hole is rocky and the water is swift-moving and cold.

The decision to suspend the water search prompted Yaqoob's father, Mohammad Irshad Malik‎ to write on the Jersey City My Home Town Facebook page that the family wanted the search continued. In addition, Malik told the Jersey Journal he believed the decision to suspend the search was made because he is a Muslim.

“Two days ago I realized, in America there are three (sets of) laws: for blacks, whites and for Muslims,” he was quoted as saying. He could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

Dan Alexander contributed to this report.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.

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