The body of a man found floating in a lake in Newark's South Ward over the weekend has been identified.
According to family members, search and rescue crews pulled the lifeless body of Mr. Antoine Bennette, 25, of Newark from the Weequahic Park Lake on Saturday.
Police say at approximately 11:00 am, the Essex County Sheriff’s Office received calls about a possible body floating in the lake.
Authorities say sheriff’s officers responded to the lake, with the assistance of the Newark Fire Department, and removed the body of an unidentified female.
The female was pronounced dead at 11:25 a.m. Detectives from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Task Force arrived at the park to investigate this incident, and while detectives canvassed the park and lake area for evidence, they observed another person floating in another section of the lake authorities said.
With the assistance of the Newark Fire Department and officers from the Sheriff’s Office, authorities recovered the body of Bennette who was pronounced dead at 3:03 p.m. according to the prosecutor's office.
On December 2, 2017, Bennette's family contacted RLS Metro Breaking News to inform that he mysteriously vanished from the Chancellor Avenue neighborhood without a trace. When Bennette did not return home for his December 26th birthday, his family became increasingly concerned as they consistently checked into our information space.
Bennette was last seen wearing all black with blue jeans when his family last saw him.
The cause and manner of death for Bennette and the unidentified woman will be determined after autopsies are performed at the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly, of the Prosecutor’s Homicide Unit.
"At this time, these incidents do not appear to be related," Fennelly said.
How Mr. Bennette and the unidentified woman end up dead in the Newark South Ward lake of a park that's heavily patrolled by police will be investigated by the Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Task Force, and the investigation is active an ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Prosecutor's Tips Line at (877) 847-7432.