Former teacher goes missing after swim in Lake Hopatcong

HOPATCONG — A former teacher went missing on Friday night after he left his home to go for a swim in Lake Hopatcong.

Arthur Clarke's elderly mother did not notice until Saturday morning that her son didn't return home. A search that included the State Police Maine Bureau continued on Sunday and Monday, according to Hopatcong Police in a post on their Facebook page.

The search focused in the Byram Cove area of the lake to the right of Sisters Island near Maxim Drive. The Morris County lake borders Jefferson, Mt. Arlington and Roxbury.

A neighbor found the 64-year-old's flip-flops and a shirt on the deck of his lakefront home and his bicycle and vehicle untouched, along with other personal belongings.

Police said Clarke is a former Hopatcong public school district teacher and owner of Hopatcong Eye Care. He enjoyed swimming during cold months and at night.

Hopatcong Borough Schools acting superintendent of schools Dr. Joanne Mullane said Clarke taught math and science between 1977 and 1993 at the Durban Avenue School and then the Hopatcong Middle School. "Our thoughts are with Mr. Clarke’s family during this time of uncertainty," Mullane said.

Police asked for the friends, neighbors and the media to not contact the family.

Hopatcong Police asked anyone with information about Clarke to call them at 973-398-5000.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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