Body found in surf believed to be missing boardwalk worker who disappeared while swimming

A body believed to be that of a 24-year-old Slovakian woman who disappeared while swimming in the darkness early Sunday in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., has been found about eight miles south in the Ocean Beach section of Toms River, police said Monday.

The discovery of the body came shortly after the Coast Guard called off the search for  Zuzana Oravcova,  who was employed by Jenkinson's Boardwalks in Point Pleasant Beach.

Officials said they were confident that the body  was that of Oravcova, but an autopsy was scheduled to positively identify her.

She becomes at least the seventh person to drown at the Shore since Memorial Day, including another summer worker, Ismail Ahmed Abdelmonem Ismail, 24, an Egyptian, who worked on the Wildwood boardwalk and disappeared while swimming at night in June.

Toms River police said an off-duty Ocean Beach lifeguard spotted the body in the surf about 11:50 p.m. Sunday.

Police said Oravcova had been swimming with a fellow Slovakian, Thomas Kadlec, 23, about 2:30 a.m. when they got into trouble in the water. Kadlec made it to shore, but Oravcova did not, and he immediately notified a boardwalk employee, who called police.

On Sunday, the Coast Guard, the New Jersey State Police Marine Unit, the Bay Head and Mantoloking fire companies and police, and dive teams from Point Pleasant Beach and four nearby communities launched a sea and air search before darkness set in.

The National Weather Service had issued a warning about dangerous rip currents along the Jersey Shore over the weekend. The advisory had spurred many towns to ban swimming at their beaches. But a Coast Guard spokesman said Sunday there was no indication that rip currents played a part in this case. "That would be pure speculation at this time," he said.