Search for swimmer who went missing in Potomac River will continue Tuesday

The man who public safety officials presumed drowned in the Potomac River on Sunday is a Towson University student.

Authorities will continue their search on Tuesday for the man, who disappeared about 6:15 p.m. near Billy Goat Trail A in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, according to Pete Piringer, a spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.

Fox 5 reported the missing man is 20-year-old Nazir Bell, a Towson University student from Germantown. The news outlet also spoke with Bell’s mother on Monday, who was crying near where search-and-rescue crews were searching the water.

“He’s a good kid. He’s such a good kid. It’s so unfair,” she said. “My heart aches because I just wish I was there to help him.”

Piringer said on social media that the missing man was swimming with a group on the Maryland shoreline, headed toward the Virginia shoreline, near Great falls, when he disappeared.

On Sunday, dozens of first responders scoured both sides of the river by water, land and air. The search paused Sunday night and resumed Monday morning. It has included the fire departments from Montgomery and Fairfax counties, sonar equipment, and a helicopter from the U.S. Park Police.