More Information About Bayville Drowning To Be Released Soon

Authorities have released little so far about the circumstances surrounding the death of 18-year-old Ryan J. Worrall, who drowned in Barnegat Bay in a boating accident last week.

But the New Jersey State Police may release more information about the events leading up to the canoe accident and what happened after within the next several days, State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said today.

No one filed a missing person report with Berkeley Township police that Worrall had gone missing after a canoe he had taken out with a friend in Barnegat Bay overturned, Detective Sgt. James J. Smith has said.

"He was not listed as a missing person," he said.

The New Jersey State Police are handling the investigation into Worrall's death. Jones has said the first notification they received came from an off-duty state police officer on a Wave Runner, who found Worrall's body floating in the bay late Friday afternoon.

Worrall and another friend, also 18,  had attended a post-graduation party on the evening of June 9 and were dropped off by friends near Worrall's Balsam Drive home in Bayville in the Friday morning darkness. The two men then took a canoe out into Barnegat Bay. At some point, the canoe overturned and both men went into the water, Jones has said.

Police have not yet released the name of Worrall's friend, but he has been interviewed several times about the accident, Jones said.

Ryan Worrall died of accidental drowning, according to an autopsy performed at Community Medical Center last Saturday. There were no obvious signs of trauma to his body, Jones has said.

Memorial gatherings for Worrall - who had graduated from Central Regional High School just two days before he died - will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Mastapeter Funeral Home on 270 Route 9 in Bayville.

The young man who had hoped to join the Coast Guard is survived by his mother, Lynn MacIntosh, Bayville; his father Patrick Worrall, Beachwood; two sisters, Jessica Worrall, Lyndsay Mansuy and his brother Patrick Worrall Jr., all of Bayville; his grandmothers, Gail MacIntosh and Helen Worrall. He is also survived by several aunts and uncles, his cousins and many friends, according to his obituary published on Legacy.com

"Ryan cherished his many friends and considered them to be family members as well," it states.