Body Found on Beach May Be That of Missing Teenager

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

A body that washed up on Rockaway Beach yesterday may be that of Tiara Coaxum, a 16-year-old girl from Jamaica, Queens, who was pulled under while swimming with a friend on Friday.

The body of an African-American teenage girl was discovered on the shoreline, having washed up from under the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, on Beach 169th Street and Rockaway Point about five minutes after noon, officials said.

The police have not yet identified the girl, but they presumed the cause of death was drowning. Officials from the medical examiner’s office said they would have an identity and confirm cause of death sometime today.

The Coast Guard was deployed to search for Ms. Coaxum after she went under in a riptide Friday afternoon. But neither the rescue nor recovery mission the next day turned up any evidence of Ms. Coaxum, who had been in the water near Beach 116th Street with 16-year-old Karla Armaza, who also went under in the waves and nearly drowned.

If suspicions are confirmed, this would be the first drowning incident on a city beach this summer.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use