DETROIT — The body of Nadaa Thabet was recovered Wednesday three quarters of a mile from where she was last seen on Belle Isle in Detroit. Thabet, 16, lost her life May 22 around 6 p.m. after her body disappeared into the Detroit river.

Nadaa Thabet

According to family members, Thabet, a Yemeni American, jumped into the river in an attempt to save her only sibling, younger sister Haila, 11, who fell in.”I jumped and I saved her (Haila) but I couldn’t find the other one,” said the girls’ father Jamal Thabet.  According to police, there are signs showing that the area is not safe for swimming, since the water goes on as far as 22 ft and stretches 20 miles down.  According to their father, the family was there for a picnic and the girls were playing on the rocks. Thabet said the girls know they cannot swim, and wouldn’t go into the water; they fell in accidentally. It is believed that Thabet was swept away by the river’s current. “You hear about things like this all the time, but you don’t think it’s going to happen to you.  That it is going to hit close to you,” said Thabet’s Uncle Nashwan AbdullahApproximately 100 people visited the site on Belle Isle daily to demonstrate support for the family and ask for the continuation of the recovery effort when the coast guard suspended their search late on Sunday.”We are here for support. We need this for closure,” said Hatim Elhady, a family friend. There was concern over the recovery effort and the lack of cooperation among the counties. The family said the police didn’t arrive until 45 minutes after they were called, that the search didn’t start until two hours later and ended too early.”To come to the family and say that their shift is over, it doesn’t make sense,” said family friend Dr. Khalid Almasmari. “We’re talking about a human being here.”American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) Regional Director Imad Hamad said ADC sent out an alert asking for the police department to resume the search immediately and give attention to the feelings of the family.  “We understand that resources are limited but this is a human tragedy and an unspeakable tragedy to the family. Without recovering the body this goes on and becomes a continuous tragedy.  I’m sure Chief Evans is a good leader and chief. They do understand and I’m very positive they will do what is right,” Hamad said. Thabet was a sophomore at Frontier International Academy in Hamtramck. Her friends and family describe her as lovely, sweet and helpful girl who always went out of her way to serve and volunteer for her classmates, family and community”She’s a sweet girl, I don’t know what to say but she is the best,” said Thabet’s father.”We want to thank everyone. The chief of police, coast guard, the state and all those who went looking for her,” said the family’s sheik Jamal Mogalli. “Although we are still sad, this makes it a little better.”The community is calling Nadda Thabet a hero, sacrificing her life to save her sister.