Missing Man's Vehicle Found In Belmar Lake: Police

BELMAR — A body found in a vehicle pulled from a Belmar lake has been tentatively identified as a Toms River man who was reported missing two weeks ago, police said Friday.

Wayne Kovacs, 55, was reported missing Oct. 7, said Jillian Messina, media relations specialist for the Toms River Police Department. Investigators found the last contact anyone had with Kovacs was 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, she said.

Toms River detectives were able to identify the area they believed Kovacs had gone, and when Detective Tom Grosse and Detective John Turner approached Silver Lake in Belmar, they noticed a small amount of oil in the lake.

The New Jersey State Police Marine Unit searched the lake with side-scanning sonar for a vehicle, and on Thursday, the vehicle was pulled from the lake, she said, with a body inside.

The victim has been preliminarily identified as Kovacs, Messina said, and has been taken to the Middlesex County medical examiner's office, which handles autopsies for Monmouth County.

"At this time there appears to be nothing suspicious, but the investigation is ongoing," Messina said. Authorities were awaiting the results of the autopsy for the report on his cause and manner of death.

Toms River police thanked the Belmar Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office for their assistance.

With reporting by Karen Wall