Police identify man who drowned in Cedar Lake Wildlife Management area

By Jessica MacAulay

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    WILLIAMSTOWN, New Jersey (KYW) — A man who lived in Gloucester County drowned in the Cedar Lake Wildlife Management area in Williamstown on Thursday, Monroe Township police announced.

Police said the man, identified by police as Rafael Martinez Pascual, 38, was swimming with friends in the area right off Jackson Road when he went underwater and never returned to the surface.

The area where the group was swimming is closed for public access and swimming is prohibited, according to Wildlife Management Area regulations.

Multiple emergency response services worked to find Pascual in the water utilizing divers, a watercraft, a helicopter and drones, police said.

A rescue diver found Pascual’s body around 5 p.m., police said, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The 38-year-old is a citizen of Mexico but lived in Pitman, N.J., police said.

Authorities said Pascual was the fourth person to drown in Monroe Township this summer.

Monroe Township Police Department and the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the incident.

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