The remains of the Wycoff dock along Matawan Creek was a popular swimming spot known for having a deep section, which made it a particularly attractive location for the town’s young boys to escape the oppressive heat of the summer (girls would not swim there). Located several miles inland from the ocean, it would have been absolutely unfathomable to Matawan residents that a shark could possibly be in the creek. The temperature that afternoon would reach 96 degrees.
That morning, the Coast Guard released a statement that there were “so many sharks [spotted along the shore] that a patrol of cutters would be useless.”
6:30 am: Lester Stillwell left for work with his father at Anderson Basket Factory. Lester’s best friend, Albert “Ally” O’Hara, also worked there. Lester was 11 years old and just one week shy of his 12th birthday. He suffered from tonic-clonic seizures due to epilepsy.
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