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Rescuers searched the wooded area and steep cliffs along the treacherous watering hole off Little Falls Road in Cedar Grove's Community Park for nearly an hour the night of July 8 before pulling the 16-year-old victim's body from the water.
CPR was begun and continued as the Newark teen was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Cedar Grove police said.
They were originally told that the victim was 18, township police said, but he was actually 16.
They also said they'd conducted a "regular inspection" of the area at 5:15 p.m. and found no one there.
"A short time after the officers returned to patrol, a group of individuals arrived," they said in a release. "Despite the posted 'no trespassing' signs and warnings highlighting the risks of swimming in the area, someone entered the water and failed to surface."
Dive teams from various area towns were placed on standby as responders from Essex County, Lyndhurst, Mahwah, Oradell, Wallington and Wyckoff joined their Cedar Grove colleagues.
The deep ravine in the Peckman River continues to draw large groups of teens and young adults, some of whom post videos of themselves diving from its steep ledges, despite the large-lettered warning signs.
The trouble is: There are rocky ledges, rocks beneath the surface and powerful currents that can conquer even the best swimmers, leading township police to call it "an attractive nuisance."
The township has banned swimming, wading and bathing at Devil's Hole and other waterways ever since a Newark man, also 18, who'd jumped from a ledge was recovered 15 feet below the surface there in 2014.
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