Officer Patrick Luca is seen on the far right at an NYPD recruiting center in a file photo.An NYPD officer is missing and feared drowned after he fell into the water while kayaking with his 5-year-old son Fiday in Long Island's Nissequogue River.
NYPD mobilized rescue teams who were scouring the river late last night in search of Patrick Luca, 41, a 21-veteran officer.
Luca and his son set out in an inflatable kayak from the Old Dock Road boat launch, in Kings Park, and floated into the river about 1:30 p.m. Friday, said a Suffolk County Police spokesman.
At about 2:45 p.m., a boater spotted the child, who was wearing a life vest, floating in the river. Their was no sign of the boat or his father, said a police spokesman.
The boater brought the child back to shore and reunited him with his mother. The child was not injured, police said. It's not clear how long the boy was in the water alone or what happened to the inflatable craft, said police.
Suffolk County Police immediately launched a search for Luca using boats and helicopters, and they were joined by the NYPD and the Coast Guard in the frantic hunt, said a police spokesman.
The search was continuing early this morning with divers in the water and police using side-scanning sonar to search the river, which feeds into Long Island Sound, said a police spokesman
Luca, who lives in Smithtown, was assigned to the NYPD's Recruitment Section, said police.
