Body found of 70-year-old kayaker who went missing in Schuylkill
The man — who has been identified as 70-year-old Tony Luongo — launched his kayak from the Upper Merion Boathouse Monday.
The body of a 70-year-old kayaker who went missing in the Schuylkill this week was found Thursday evening in the river, Upper Merion Township police told TV stations.
First responders had been searching since Monday for Tony Luongo, who launched his kayak from the Upper Merion Township boathouse for a fishing trip Monday and has not returned, authorities said.
Luongo was last seen at 12:40 p.m. that day, when he posted a selfie to Instagram of himself kayaking upstream from the boathouse, police said. An hour and 20 minutes later, Upper Merion police received a phone call from a resident who heard a “male calling for help” near a wooded area close to the Schuylkill.
Luongo lived a little more than a mile from the boathouse, police said, and officers did not find anyone in need of help.
“Nothing out of the ordinary was reported by any of the crew members at that time,” police said in a news release.
Don Wallace had reported his friend missing to West Norriton police at 4 p.m. Monday after Luongo didn’t come home to check on his dog, 6ABC reported. Luongo and Wallace both live in Norristown.
“Tony is like clockwork,” Tom Jacquot, another friend of Luongo’s, told NBC10. “He goes out and comes home at a certain time. Takes care of the animals.”
Upper Merion police said they discovered Luongo’s Toyota RAV4 at the boathouse Tuesday, prompting Montgomery County emergency services to began searching the river with boats and drones. Crews recovered Luongo’s kayak at the base of a dam near the middle of the river, police said, at 4 p.m. Tuesday. About 1,000 feet upstream, other items associated with Luongo were found in a downed tree.
High school rowers also discovered an orange flotation device in the Schuylkill near the boathouse while practicing on Monday, Upper Merion Township Police Chief Thomas Nolan told 6ABC.
“They assumed it had fallen off a boat,” Nolan said.
Pennsylvania State Police conducted an aerial search of the river near the boathouse on Wednesday, according to 6ABC.