Drowning victim in Island waters identified by police

The Shelter Island Police Department have identified the 38 year-old man who drowned in waters off Crescent Beach on Wednesday.

Spencer M. Korwin of New York City was found at around 3 p.m. after going missing since 8 a.m. when he went swimming off The Pridwin Hotel dock. According to police, Mr. Korwin was located by divers underwater near the dock. Police recovered the body and determined he had drowned.  

Mr. Korwin was visiting Shelter Island, staying at the hotel with his family, police said, and had gone for a morning swim off the dock at the hotel. He was last observed shortly after 8 a.m., and several hours later when he didn’t return, his wife notified the hotel staff who contacted emergency services.

Shelter Island Police Department Det. Sgt. Jack Thilberg reported that the Island department, along with the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office, is involved in a full investigation of the drowning. At this time, Det. Thilberg said, the drowning is believed to be accidental, and no criminality is suspected. The case remains active. 

Multiple agencies responded to the search, including the East Marion Fire Department Marine Unit, Greenport Fire Department Marine Unit, Southold Fire Department Marine Unit, Orient Fire Department on stand-by, Southold Town Police Marine and Dive Team, the United States Coast Guard  employing boat and helicopter units, and Shelter Island and Southold Police Drone Units. Search efforts focused on the Crescent Beach- North Channel area and surrounding waterways.

The drowning comes several months after 18-year-old Timothy Magambo of Pelham died in an apparent drowning off Wades Beach. Mr. Magambo, a SUNY Albany freshman, was visiting the East End in May when he entered the water with a group of seven people shortly after 3 p.m., Det. Sgt. Thilberg said at the time.

Members of the group and a bystander later found Mr. Magambo floating face-down several hundred yards south of the point where he had last been seen wading back toward shore, police said.