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Divers Recover Body of 18-Year-Old Boater Mark Coates III from Susquehanna River
Maryland Natural Resources Police recovered the body of Mark Everett Coates III, 18, from the Susquehanna River on Thursday, ending an eight-day search that began after his capsized boat was found near Garrett Island. An underwater drone operated by a volunteer search team located the body offshore.
HARFORD COUNTY, Md. â The body of an 18-year-old Havre de Grace boater who went missing on the Susquehanna River was recovered Thursday, ending an eight-day search that drew divers and volunteer rescue teams to the waters near Garrett Island.
Mark Everett Coates III was last seen operating a 10-foot aluminum jon boat near the Hatem Memorial Bridge on the evening of Nov. 4, according to the Maryland Natural Resources Police. The following day, his boat was found capsized and unmanned near Garrett Island.
At around noon Thursday, dive teams from the Maryland Natural Resources Police, Maryland State Police and Baltimore County Police Department responded to the river between the Tydings Memorial Bridge (Interstate 95) and the Hatem Memorial Bridge (U.S. 40). The Christian Aid Ministries Pennsylvania Search & Rescue team had located a target of interest offshore of Garrett Island using an underwater drone, officials said. Divers then recovered the body, which authorities positively identified as Coates.
The search had stretched more than a week, with the United Cajun Navy joining the effort in the days after Coates disappeared. Authorities concluded the search after Thursday's recovery.
The stretch of the Susquehanna where the boat was found is a busy corridor for recreational boaters, framed by two major highway bridges and the islands and shallows that dot the river's mouth at the upper Chesapeake Bay. The circumstances leading to the capsizing have not been released.
Coates' family and friends had maintained a presence along the river throughout the search, and a photo of the teenager circulated among supporters as authorities worked the water. The recovery brings a measure of closure to a community that had held out hope for more than a week.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police is the lead agency investigating the incident. No further details about the cause of the capsizing were immediately available.