Mendham Police Recover Body From Morris County Reservoir

MENDHAM, NJ — An investigation into a suspicious vehicle near Clyde Potts Reservoir Thursday night led to Mendham Township Police Department on a 12-hour search that ended with a body being pulled from the water.

The identity of the 71-year-old Randolph resident was not released by authorities.

Approximately 11:30 a.m. on Friday a member of the New Jersey State Police TEAMS unit, one of the agencies involved in the search, located the man in the reservoir. Officials noted that the incident is believed to be accidental in nature and non-suspicious, pending an autopsy from the Morris County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The search started the night before on June 17 at about 11 p.m., when two officers were patrolling near Woodland Road and saw an abandoned car near the reservoir. Police traced it to the man and with concerns he was missing, contacted his family, who said they didn’t know where he was, Mendham Police said.

Other agencies in and near the reservoir, including the Morris County Sheriff’s K9 Unit, New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit, Morris County Park Police, Randolph Police, Brookside/Ralston Fire Departments and the Mendham Township First Aid Squad were called in to search.

Police said they stopped their search temporarily at 4 a.m. on Friday morning and recovered the body after they reconvened. The Morris County Office of Emergency Management, New Jersey State Police TEAMS Unit Divers and the Morris County Sheriff’s Emergency Services and Crime Scene Investigation Units, joining the investigation.

Clyde Potts Reservoir is private property owned by the Southeast Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority, Mendham Township Police said.

Questions or comments about this story? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.