Fate of Stanhope man finally determined

Police say Rivera drowned in river Paterson - Stanhope resident Joseph Rivera drowned in the Passaic River, police said. “Pending something in the toxicological report, the cause of death was drowning,” Det. Brent Batelli of the Little Falls Police Department said this week. Rivera’s father and brother told police the body discovered near the top of the Great Falls by a maintenance worker was their son and brother, Batelli said, although the medical examiner’s office has yet to confirm the identification. “They told us a couple of weeks,” Batelli said. The 27-year-old man had been missing since Nov. 13 when his body was discovered at an intake filter at the electric generating plant near the top of the falls. Police had moved their search downstream. Police said the unseasonably warm weather coupled with “a few beers” led Rivera, Omar Minaya, Eric Mendez and Caesar Castillo, to opt for a pre-dawn canoe trip. At about 3:30 a.m., the four men launched a canoe from Minaya’s backyard on the south side of the river in Little Falls. It didn’t take them long to decide the waters were too rough, and to attempt to turn back, the three men told police. When they did, they lost a paddle and the canoe capsized less than 25 feet from shore. The other three made it to shore, but believe Rivera was swept downstream and drowned. None of the men were wearing a life jacket. Continuing rough waters hampered the search, which was conducted by local and state police, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department and the Coast Guard, Batelli said.