The body of a teen boy who went missing in the ocean off of a Wildwood beach last week has been found, according to the Wildwood Police Department.
In a social media post, Wildwood police explained that they were informed about a recovery effort on June 9 for a deceased person by the United States Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.
As investigators looked into the recovery, they believed the body belonged to 14-year-old Davoris “Peter” Carter III who went missing on June 1.
The Coast Guard worked in conjunction with the New Jersey State Police and the Cape May Police Department to recover Carter’s body and he was taken to the medical examiner’s office, officials said.
Officials were able to confirm that the body recovered was Carter’s and his family was notified.
Teen boy goes missing in Wildwood
The incident unfolded around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, June 1, 2026, when a Wildwood police officer was flagged down by witnesses in regards to swimmers who were in distress in the water off the beach near Schellenger Avenue.
No lifeguards were on duty at the time, police said.
Wildwood firefighters and police from both Wildwood and North Wildwood responded to the scene. Three lifeguards from the Wildwood Beach Patrol ALERT Team responded as well. The first responders found several people in the surf.
A Wildwood officer entered the water and safely got three swimmers out of the ocean.
However, a 14-year-old boy, now identified as Davoris Carter III, remained missing until June 9. He is a student at Delta School in Philadelphia and was on a school trip at the time of this incident.
His mother, Shyara Hill, described her son as a teenager who loved hockey, played basketball and hoped to become a marine biologist.
She is now questioning the circumstances that led to him entering the water.
“The weather when I got out there, it was cold. Why was the decision to go in the water? Where was the people that was supposed to be there supervising? No protection. No lifejackets,” Hill said.
When asked whether she felt her son was failed during the trip, Hill responded, “In so many ways.”
The school’s director of education told NBC10 that they are truly devastated and are cooperating with the ongoing investigation. She added that the trip was “appropriately supervised with the right number of staff members,” six staffers and six children.