'The sand is like sugar.' Authorities warn of sand hole dangers after death of Maine man, 18

TOMS RIVER -- A day after 18-year-old Maine resident Levi Caverly died in a sand hole that collapsed, authorities in beachfront towns are again warning visitors of the potential dangers of digging deep pits on the beach.

"Stay away from the water line as much as possible. The sand is like sugar," said Ocean Beach Fire Chief Drew Calvo, who responded to the scene Monday afternoon on the beach at Ocean Beach III, a private community on barrier island. "It's so unstable, with all these storms we’ve had recently. Mother Nature takes the sand out and brings it back in."

Calvo said first responders were shaken by the Tuesday's sand collapse, and hope that by warning parents of the dangers of digging in the sand, they can prevent another tragedy.

"I've been doing this a long time and I've never seen something like this," Calvo said.

Calvo said the hole Levi and his 17-year-old sister dug was 8- to 10-feet deep. Police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel on the scene were able to rescue the 17-year-old from the sand collapse, but were unable to reach Levi in time.

Toms River Council President Kevin M. Geoghegan, a member of Silverton EMS, saw Toms River and Lavallette police officers digging frantically with their hands and police shovels when he arrived at the scene.

He said Levi's sister was initially buried in the sand as well, but when he arrived, rescuers had cleared some sand away; she was standing in the hole, with sand up to her chest.

"She said her brother was right there," Geoghegan said. "She didn't want to get medical treatment or any help until they found her brother."

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Geoghegan estimated the hole was about 8 feet wide by 8 feet deep. When Levi was finally found, he was buried under at least 5 feet of sand, Geoghegan and Calvo said.

About Levi

In a post on social media, Levi's father, Todd said his son was interested in music and tech and was a devout Christian.

"Levi was himself," said Todd Caverly, of Union, Maine. "He was odd. He was quirky. He was not real concerned with what others thought. He knew Jesus Christ. He was involved in the worship team at church, and was the drummer in a teen/young adult worship band. He was a tech nut and loved to program.

"The truth is that Scripture says that all our days are numbered," Caverly wrote. "That there is nothing we can do to add a single hour to our life. He knew that. Matthew 6:25-34."

Levi was a 2021 graduate of Mid-Coast School of Technology in Rockland, Maine, where he competed and won a bronze medal for Mobile Robotics Technology, according to the Boston Globe.

School director Bobby Deetjen told the Globe that his former student was “an incredible young man full of joy and passion.” Deetjen said all of Caverly’s siblings attended the school.

Caverly excelled in everything he did, Deetjen said.

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“He was definitely committed to every project that he did with us and was always a very happy student and kids really enjoyed his presence and being around him,” Deetjen told the Globe.

Levi and his sister had spent Tuesday afternoon at the beach with their family; they were vacationing in the area, authorities said. The accident happened off Seaview Road, at the end of East Bonita Way; police responded to the report of a sand collapse at 4:09 p.m.

Levi's body was recovered at 6:45 p.m., according to police.

"Toms River is heartbroken for the Caverly family for the loss of young Levi,” said Mayor Maurice B. “Mo” Hill. “I can’t imagine the pain that they must be experiencing.”

Hill urged visitors not to dig more than knee deep into the sand.

"With all of the storms and beach replenishments we’ve had, beach sand is not compact," the mayor said.

Todd Caverly said on social media that Levi's family plans to return home to Maine today and "be with our church family tonight."

"Thank you all for praying," he wrote. "Please don’t stop. Levi Caverly, there are not words to express my love for you."

'Extremely rare'

Ocean Beach III is a private community of 950 homes in on the barrier island. Lifeguards at Ocean Beach are provided by the association, as is true for many other private beach communities in the area. The unofficial start of the beach season -- Memorial Day weekend -- is still more than two weeks away, so beaches throughout the shore are unguarded.

"Something this tragic is extremely rare," said Toms River Recreation Director Jared Tate. Toms River provides lifeguards for the public beach at Ortley Beach during summer beach season.

Tate said that when lifeguards are on duty, they are instructed to tell beachgoers to stop digging if they spot a hole that's too deep.

Lifeguards make sure "nobody is going lower than knee level," Tate said. "Anything lower than that is going to concern, and we're going to stop it and fill in the hole."

He said at the end of their shifts, guards will also patrol the beach to make sure there aren't any holes left on the beach. A hole could prove dangerous to someone who is walking on the beach at night, or do a beach maintenance or lifeguard vehicle driving on the sand.

This is not the first time a sand collapse has happened on the beachfront in Monmouth and Ocean counties, though fatalities are very rare.

In July 2012, 12-year-old Ezra Corman, a summer resident of Ocean Township, died when a sand tunnel collapsed on him on the beach in Long Branch; 11 years earlier, Daniel Correll, 16, of Oley, Pa., died two days after a 6-foot-deep sand hole he was digging on the beach in Long Beach Township caved in.

In July 2020, Belmar police, lifeguards, rescuers and firefighters saved a boy from a collapsed sand hole.

In August 2015, lifeguards and bystanders pulled a 12-year-old boy out of a collapsed hole in Surf City.

On Tuesday in Utah, a 13-year-old boy died from injuries he sustained May 16, while digging a tunnel in a sand dune at a state park.

Elsewhere

Lifeguards and officials from Shore towns have long warned beachgoers about the danger of digging deep holes in unstable sand.

In Belmar, one of the Shore towns that has an ordinance that prevents beach goers from digging deep holes, Chief Lifeguard Harry Harsin said he wants everyone to be aware of the dangers.

The ordinance prohibits the digging of a hole in the sand deeper than 12 inches. If anyone is seen digging one that appears deeper, lifeguards are required to tell them to stop.

“For the towns that don’t have an ordinance enacted already, I think it would be wise for them to do so,” Harsin said.

He also recommended that everyone on the beaches this summer be aware of the danger of these holes and speak up if someone is digging one that is too deep.

“I think public awareness is important for everybody on the beach that if someone is digging a hole, there’s always the potential for the sand to collapse when it gets to a certain depth,” Harsin said.

Seaside Heights is another town that already warns beach visitors of the dangers of digging holes in the sand.

“What we have been telling people is don’t dig holes,” Police Chief Thomas Boyd said. “If the hole collapses and you fall in there’s no coming back. Once you suck that sand into your lungs, you’re done.”

Seaside Heights lifeguards regularly ask visitors to not dig deep holes in the sand.

“The lifeguards get so upset when people are digging deep holes and people look at them saying that we’re infringing on their rights, but we’re trying to save their lives," Boyd said.

Ocean Beach Chief Calvo said digging deep holes could pose a danger to not only other beach visitors but also fire officials and emergency medical services who frequently ride along the beaches during the day. “We want to make sure this does not happen to someone else," he said.

A 2007 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that at least 31 people in the U.S. had died after being submerged under collapsed sand in backyards or beaches. The study's authors looked at news reports and conducted internet searches from to compile statistics about sand submersion deaths since 1985.

The report's lead author, Dr. Bradley Maron of Harvard Medical School, noted that sand collapses happen very quickly.

“Typically, victims became completely submerged in the sand when the walls of the hole unexpectedly collapsed, leaving virtually no evidence of the hole or location of the victim,” wrote Maron, an internal medicine resident at the time.

Mayor Hill and Calvo praised the efforts of first responders.

“It was an amazing effort by all of our first responders and bystanders to try and rescue these children. Although our outcome was not what we had hoped for, we had great success in the rescue of one occupant,” the chief said. “The Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Company and all of our first responders offer our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones.”

Hill said first responders' are struggling to deal with the heartbreak of Levi's death.

"“I commend all of our first responders who fought hard to save Levi and were able to rescue his sister.  I know that they are devastated that they could not rescue Levi.  The joy of saving the sister is mixed with heartbreak," he said.

Responding to the incident were: East Dover, Ocean Beach, Seaside Heights and Lavallette fire departments; Seaside Heights and Lavallette public works departments; Toms River and Lavallett police; Silverton EMS;

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 37 years. Contact her: jmikle@gannettnj.com, @jeanmikle.

Nicolas Fernandes is the early morning breaking news reporter. A lifelong New Jersey resident, he has previously worked as a features writer and sports reporter. Contact him at 732-540-4401 or nfernandes@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River sand collapse: Authorities warn of dangers after death