Teen Rescued from Sinking Mud at Carmans River After Nightfall Entrapment

Benjamin Moore, 15, of Shirley had been walking the Pine Barrens trails inside Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge when Sunday's light ran out and the Carmans River's edge stopped looking like a trail. He stepped into an offshoot of the river, sank deep into the mud, and could not pull himself free.

The rescue unfolded Sunday evening, April 5, though at least one initial report logged the date as April 6, which is a Monday. Moore called 911 at approximately 7:27 p.m., telling dispatchers he had lost his way on the refuge trails after nightfall and was trapped in sinking mud along a Carmans River offshoot somewhere inside the 2,550-acre property. The 911 complaint operator gave him a single critical instruction: turn on your cellphone flashlight.

Suffolk County Police Department Aviation Section officers were already airborne, running a search pattern above the refuge, when the beam appeared through the tree canopy. The helicopter crew pinpointed Moore's position from the air and relayed his coordinates to ground units. Seventh Precinct patrol officers and Emergency Service Section members pushed into the woods on foot. Canine units, marine officers, and several local fire departments also responded. Moore was pulled from the mud at approximately 8:25 p.m., roughly one hour after that first call, then escorted out of the refuge and taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

His entrapment was not simply bad luck. The stretch of Wertheim where the Carmans River's offshoots branch into the refuge's wetland margins sits at a transition zone between freshwater and brackish conditions, a mix the refuge itself identifies as part of its varied habitat from oak-pine woodland through fresh, brackish, and saltwater wetlands. Tidal flux reaches into those offshoots, leaving the surface deceptively firm before it gives way underfoot. Once a person sinks past mid-shin into that organic-laden silt, upward suction makes self-extraction nearly impossible; struggling accelerates the process. Bystanders who wade in to pull someone free risk a second entrapment. What worked Sunday was exactly what rescuers would prescribe: stay still, stay on the phone, and signal your position.

Moore's presence on the trails added another layer of danger beyond the mud. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service restricts Wertheim's trails to daylight hours only. After dark, the refuge's more than six miles of Pine Barrens paths offer no lighting and offer no margin for navigation error, which is how a wrong step off a trail becomes a wrong step into a river.

The Carmans River, a New York State designated scenic river and one of the largest rivers on Long Island, bisects the core of a refuge that Maurice Wertheim originally donated to the federal government as 2,000 acres in 1947. The refuge now protects 2,550 acres and draws hikers year-round, many of whom do not realize how quickly conditions at the water's edge change.

CARMANS RIVER SAFETY

Wertheim's closure at dusk is not posted in clock hours; it tracks sunset, which in early April arrives before 7:30 p.m. Plan entry times accordingly and build in a return buffer of at least one hour before dark.

Tidal influence pushes well into the refuge's freshwater zones, meaning mud firmness along any river offshoot can shift substantially across a single afternoon. Waterproof, ankle-supporting boots are essential near any bank or wetland margin; sneakers offer no resistance against silt that can swallow a foot in seconds.

If someone becomes trapped in mud, do not wade in. That action risks a second victim. Instead, call 911 immediately, then extend a branch, belt, or rope from firm ground for the trapped person to grip, with both feet staying planted. Suffolk County Police Seventh Precinct covers the Shirley area and can dispatch Aviation Section within minutes, as Sunday's response demonstrated. The refuge headquarters off William Floyd Parkway in Shirley serves as the nearest reliable navigation anchor if you need to describe your general entry point to dispatchers.

Carry a GPS-capable phone with a full charge before entering the refuge. If lost after dark, stop moving entirely, call 911, and follow dispatcher instructions precisely. A cellphone flashlight, held steady in the dark above the Carmans River, was what brought Benjamin Moore home.