'Fun' swim turns terrifying for family

CABIN JOHN, Md. - Jaber Doraney says he and other family members spent the early morning hours running up and down the banks of the Potomac River screaming for his missing cousins, Asad Nabatzahi and Abdul Doraney.

"We were just coming to swim for fun," Doraney tells WTOP.

Doraney says he and his five cousins had been camping when they decided to go into the Potomac River near Purple Horse Beach late Sunday afternoon.

The water turned out rougher than expected. Each time Doraney tried to swim one way, the current pulled him the other, he says.

"I was really scared, but you have to get out," Doraney says. "Before I got out, I saw my cousin go under the water."

Rescuers believe the two men, ages 20 and 22, may have drowned.

Authorities are no longer using boats to look for the men. Helicopters will continue looking for the pair from Purple Horse Beach to the D.C. line.

The effort turned from a search and recovery effort Monday morning. On Sunday, Montgomery and Fairfax County water rescue units and a U.S. Park Police helicopter searched the area before dark.

Doraney says family members scoured the banks of the river until 2 a.m. and then returned at 5 a.m.

Doraney says his family does not want to give up hope. The family released photos of the men in the hopes that someone may have seen them.

Additionally, police have left a note on the car of one of the men in the hopes that they managed to get out of the river. Police say they have not heard from either man.

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