MANCHESTER – A Howell Township resident is dead after an accident sent his Utility Terrain Vehicle
Into a lake at the Heritage Minerals Mine in Whiting.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Manchester Township Chief of Police Lisa Parker confirmed that the incident happened on December 12 shortly before 8:30 p.m.
Officers from the Manchester Township Police Department responded to Heritage Minerals Mine, also known as ASARCO, on Route 70 in Whiting, for a report of a motor vehicle accident with a submersion.
Police spoke to a group of people who were driving UTV’s and they said that a UTV had entered the lake at the center of the property, causing the driver and the passengers to be submerged in the water.
Authorities said 62-year-old James Grover of Howell did not resurface. The other passengers and members of the group attempted to locate Grover but were unsuccessful.
Manchester Township Police and members of the Manchester, Ridgeway and Whiting Volunteer Fire Companies conducted an underwater dive search and rescue operation and located the UTV overturned and submerged in 25 feet of water.
Grover was attached to the UTV by his safety harness. Rescue units attempted to perform life saving measures but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a press release from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Billhimer said “Chief Parker and I would like to commend the heroic efforts of the Manchester Volunteer Fire Company, Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, Whiting Volunteer Fire Company, Manchester Township Emergency Medical Services, Robert Wood Johnson Paramedics, New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, “ Prosecutor Billhimer stated.
The cause of the crash is now being probed by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit, Manchester Township Police Traffic Safety Unit and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.”
