The bodies of two teenagers who were swept out to sea off a Queens beach last week have been recovered, their grieving family members confirmed to The Post Sunday.
“I called the police department this morning, they went to the scene and showed me the pictures, and I’m pretty sure it was him,” said Euchelle Chandler, whose 16-year-old son, Elijah Chandler, was swept away June 21 at Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways.
Elijah’s body was discovered around 9pm on Saturday near Beach 114th Street, just a short distance from where Elijah went missing over a week ago along with his lifelong friend, Christian Perkins, 17.
The morning after Elijah’s body was recovered, Christian’s body was found near the shoreline at 149th Beach Street.
Police have yet to officially identify the body, The Washington Post confirmed, but his grieving father said he is confident his son has finally been found.
“I saw the picture and I recognized him. When I saw the picture, tears came to my eyes,” Chandler said.
“The casket should be closed,” he said, adding that Elijah’s mother had been devastated since hearing the news.
“She’s taking it very hard.”
On the evening of June 21, the teenagers and their friends were standing in knee-deep water when a huge wave crashed over them and pulled them into the sea.
“One of the boys told me when the water hit them it felt like the devil was coming at them,” Elijah’s father previously told The Washington Post, adding that his son can’t swim.
Passersby saw the boys struggling in the water after being hit by waves and jumped in but were unable to pull them to safety.
Despite his fear of the ocean, Elijah, who would have turned 17 on June 28, had skipped basketball practice to join his friends at the beach before the tragedy.
The Coast Guard called off the search several days later after searching about 600 square miles of open ocean.
Chandler and his wife have been keeping watch on the beach almost daily since the boys went missing in the hope of finding their bodies.
Chandler said she feels “somewhat at ease” knowing Elijah is at home now that he’s recovered.
“To me, this is a small step forward. I’m not going to bounce back from this,” Chandler said.
“It was important to me to get him back.”
