Investigators launched a water search in Cranford late Friday night after multiple 911 callers reported that a person fell through the ice.
After an hourslong search in single-digit temperatures, police say nothing was found.
Crews responding to the Sperry Park section of the Rahway River around 11 p.m. after neighbors in a nearby apartment complex reported hearing a young man calling for help.
When rescue crews arrived, investigators say they saw a series of footprints in the snow leading out to a hole in the iced-over river.
Officials say that more than 70 rescue crews from eight different towns across Union County responded. The search ended at around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning after divers and other rescuers had searched a wide stretch of the river.
No further searches are planned, according Cranford's public information office.