May 02, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Authorities are searching for a kayaker who went missing on Monday while fishing in the Schuylkill River in Upper Merion Township, police said.
UPDATE: (5/3/24): Upper Merion Police have found the body of 70-year-old Tony Luongo, a kayaker who went missing in the Schuylkill River during a fishing trip on Monday. Authorities said Luongo's body was located around 5:50 p.m. on Thursday following days of searching the river in the area of the township's boathouse.
The original story is below.
Upper Merion Police have found the kayak of a 70-year-old man who went missing Monday after he had been out fishing in the Schuylkill River. Search crews are still looking for the man, whose personal items also were found in the area of a township boathouse.
Authorities in West Norriton contacted Upper Merion police around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday for a report that the boater, identified by friends as Tony Luongo, had not returned from a fishing trip a day earlier. Luongo had gone to the boathouse at 400 Falls View Drive to launch his kayak upstream and had posted a selfie on social media from the river around 12:40 p.m., police said.
Around 2 p.m., police got a call from a resident who said a man could be heard calling for help about a mile upstream from the boathouse in a heavily wooded area.
Search crews initially looked through the woods and took boats out on the river, but found "nothing out of the ordinary" in the area where the resident's report was made, police said.
Investigators found Luongo's Toyota RAV4 parked at the boathouse and sent additional emergency services to conduct a search along the banks of the river.
At about 4 p.m. Tuesday, Luongo's kayak was found at the base of a dam near the middle of the river. Other items were found snagged in a tree about 1,000 feet upstream from the boathouse, police said.
The search continued until 8 p.m. Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday, but authorities still have not found Luongo. He was last seen wearing a grey hat, light colored shirt and gray shorts. He also was wearing a bright orange floatation device.
Police said anyone with information can call Upper Merion Township Police Department at 610-265-3232.
