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Body Found Near Where Man Vanished While Swimming Off Jersey Shore

BERKELEY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A body was found Saturday morning off in the waters off the Jersey Shore, not far from where a Frenchman vanished missing while trying to swim in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.

It was not yet known Saturday afternoon if the body found around 7:30 a.m. was that of Nicholas Guilhote, 25, of Lyon, France.

Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state's Environmental Protection Department, told The Star-Ledger that a fisherman found the body near Island Beach State Park and called 911. The discovery came several hours after the Coast Guard had suspended its extensive search for Guilhote.

Guilhote was swimming with friends when he went missing shortly before noon Friday.

"This was a beach that was marked for no swimming because there were no lifeguards," Coast Guard Petty Officer David Marin told WCBS 880's Jim Smith.

Witnesses said some people on the beach went in the water and tried unsuccessfully to rescue Guilhote.

A subsequent 17-square-mile search involved two boats from the Coast Guard station in Barnegat Light, a helicopter from the Coast Guard's Atlantic City air station and numerous local responders.

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