Gilgo Surfer Identified as Body Found at Jones Beach

A police helicopter lands at Jones Beach Monday afternoon where a dead male body washed ashore that was identified Tuesday as Zachary Gottfried of Old Field, who went missing while surfing near Gilgo Beach on Sept. 8.

New York State Park Police on the scene at Jones Beach Monday afternoon where a dead body washed ashore that was identified Tuesday as Zachary Gottfried of Old Field, who went missing while surfing near Gilgo Beach on Sept. 8.

Police activity at Jones Beach after a dead body was discovered washed ashore at around 3:50 p.m. Monday, that was identified Tuesday as Zachary Gottfried of Old Field, who went missing while surfing near Gilgo Beach on Sept. 8.

The dead body that washed ashore at Jones Beach Monday afternoon has been positively identified as Zachary Gottfried of Old Field, who went missing off the waters of Gilgo Beach last Thursday evening while surfing.

The body, which was discovered around 3:50 p.m. Monday on the Jones Beach shoreline near Parking Field 4, was positively identified as Gottfried by the Nassau County Medical Examiner’s Office Tuesday, according Detective Sgt. Thomas Duignan of the New York State Park police. The location where Gottfried's body was discovered is about seven miles west of where he went missing near Gilgo Beach State Park, according to Duignan.

The positive identification of Gottfried, 31, follows a five-day search for him on South Shore waters conducted by State Park Police, the U.S Coast Guard, Nassau and Suffolk County police, Long Beach police and the Babylon Department of Public Safety.

At the time Gottfried went missing Thursday, a “high surf” advisory had been issued on Long Island's South Shore beaches by the National Weather Service. Police said the surf measured 10-feet high at the time Gottfried went missing. The Babylon Department of Public Safety discovered Gottfried’s 10-foot paddleboard near Gilgo Beach last Friday.

Gottfried owned Island Riders surf shops in Amityville and he recently opened one at 538 Montauk Highway in Amagansett. They are full service kiteboarding, surfing and wakeboarding schools and stores, founded in 2004. According to the company website, he has been surfing Napeague Harbor on Eastern Long Island since 2002.