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Divers from the New Jersey State Police Dive Team recovered Curtis Mulch's body from the water sometime after 3 p.m., Trooper Alejandro Goez said. Mulch, of the Landing section of Roxbury, was pronounced dead just before 3:30 p.m., Goez said.
A water search was launched at approximately 11 a.m., when the weed harvester Mulch was operating capsized, and Mulch didn't emerge.
Photos of the weed harvester were posted to Facebook groups by residents, happy to see it out on the water -- moments before it capsized near 72 W. River Styx Road.
The incident happened on the first day of weed harvesting for the 2020 season. This year's operations had been downsized due to limited state funding, HopatcongLakeRegionalNews reports.
While the Lake Hopatcong Commission funds the Weed Harvesting on Lake Hopatcong using State Funding, the late start and downsized the operations this year is due to limited State funding. Crescent Cove was targeted at the start since the Borough of Hopatcong created a win-win scenario to make this happen.
Responding agencies include the Jefferson Township and Hopatcong fire departments, NJSP Marine Unit and the NJSP Dive Team.
An investigation is ongoing, Goez said.
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