UPDATE: Apparent drowning at Wades Beach Saturday — Visitor to the Island succumbs after rescue efforts

 According to Shelter Island Police Det. Sgt. Jack Thilberg, an 18-year-old male “apparently drowned off Wades Beach” a little past 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 16.

Timothy Magambo, of Pelham, N.Y., who was visiting Shelter Island with friends — one of whom has family with a residence on the Island — had been part of a group of seven individuals who entered the water for a walkout and swim. The group intended to travel across the channel from Wades Beach to Shell Beach, police said, the nearby peninsula directly across the water.

During the swim, the victim became separated from the group that was continuing toward Shell Beach. He turned back alone to return to Wades Beach. When the group was unable to locate him, he was subsequently reported missing, according to the police. 

Shortly after calling for help, members in the group, as well as a bystander at the beach, located the individual floating face-down several hundred yards south of the point where he was last observed wading back to shore, police said. They were able to bring the victim to the beach, where lifesaving measures were immediately initiated by Shelter Island Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services personnel.

He was transported to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital and later transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital’s main facility. Despite extensive rescue and medical efforts, according to police, he later succumbed to injuries consistent with drowning.