MANCHESTER – In an all too familiar story, another drowning incident occurred on Monday night at Crystal Lake in the area often referred to as Heritage Minerals.
Firefighters were dispatched around 6:53 p.m. for reports of someone going under the water and not coming back up. The Ridgeway Chief was the first on location and confirmed the last known location of a submerged individual later identified as Victor Arias-Peralta, an 18-year-old Perth Amboy Township man.
The teenager unlawfully visited the Heritage Mineral property and attempted to swim in the lake with other individuals at around 6 p.m. Arias- Peralta and a friend were attempting to cross Crystal Lake when he appeared to suffer from severe fatigue and went into distress approximately 20 yards from the shoreline. His friends went to the aid of Arias- Peralta who eventually submerged underwater and disappeared.
Manchester Police, with the assistance of the Manchester Township EMS, the Manchester, Ridgeway, and Whiting Volunteer Fire Departments, and the New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit responded to the scene. Search and rescue operations were conducted for approximately 45 minutes before Arias- Peralta was located unresponsive. He was pulled from the water where he was pronounced deceased.
Photo courtesy Whiting Fire Company Sta. 33
The preliminary investigation indicates the drowning to be accidental. The scene was subsequently turned over to township police and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office for to investigate.
The land used to belong to the American Smelting and Refining Company, and was later operated by Heritage Minerals until mining operations ceased in the early 1980s.
Police Chief Antonio Ellis spoke during the latest Township Council meeting about the ongoing trespassing problems at the property which over the years has led to several drownings.
Ellis and other police representatives have warned the public that the lake’s water can be “very unpredictable and dangerously unstable” as it had been used for mining and there are deep drop offs.
“Those entering the water will quickly realize that after taking a few steps in the soft, unstable sand that the shoreline ‘shelf’ quickly drops off to depths that exceed 60 feet,” the chief said.
Heritage Minerals is privately owned and marked with “No Trespassing” signs but too many individuals have been ignoring those signs to “party” according to Chief Ellis. The police department has repeatedly warned people to stay away from the property because the lakes – which resulted when mining at the site reached groundwater aquifers – are dangerous.
The water is mineral-laden from the aquifers, extremely cold, and the sandy shoreline around the lakes is very unstable and soft, according to police. Some estimates have the largest ‘lake’ on the property as being up to 300 feet deep.
Due to it being private property, it is closed for recreational and other use and it is a criminal offense to enter or remain on the property. In the interest of public safety, the Manchester Township Police urges everyone to obey the signage posted at the site.
A few months ago, 33-year-old Edwin Toro-Mejia drowned when he and several other trespassers entered the private, 7,000-acre quarry to go swimming in Crystal Lake.
According to police reports, Toro-Mejia attempted to swim across the lake and suffered a muscle cramp in his leg about 30 yards from shore.
Photo courtesy Whiting Fire Company Sta. 33
In July of 2020, a Plainfield man drowned at the lake and dive teams were brought in to retrieve his body because the mineral-fed water reduces buoyancy, making it more difficult for people to float.
A 22-year-old man died a year later and a 17-year-old Manchester student died in 2015.
Those that do trespass are subject to high fines and penalties, up to and including incarceration along with the greater risk of drowning if they enter the lake.
Assisting with this investigation is the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Investigation Unit and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office. Anyone who may have been at “Crystal Lake” and witnessed this incident is asked to contact Detective Victoria Guarino of the Manchester Township Police Department’s Investigations Bureau at 732-657-2009 ext. 4201.
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