A man’s body was recovered on Sunday afternoon in the Elk River, about 24 hours after he jumped into the water from a boat and never returned to the surface.
Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) tell us the call came in Saturday, June 21, for a 36-year-old man who jumped in near Turkey Point in Cecil County. He failed to resurface, and responding police officers couldn’t find him during surface searches.
The North East and Charlestown fire companies, Perry Point, and the Susquehanna Hose Company all responded to help search, along with the NRP and New Castle County, Delaware, dive teams, and Maryland State Police aviation. The search lasted until dark on Saturday night, then resumed Sunday morning.
On Sunday around 12:45 p.m., NRP Underwater Operations Team divers found and recovered the man’s body. It was within the search area where he was last seen jumping from the boat.
Fire rescue insiders tell us the area around Turkey Point is not a very good spot to swim. The Susquehanna, North East, and Elk rivers all meet there, so there is a lot of boat traffic, and the current is very strong. On Saturday, the current and wave action from other boats were complicating the divers’ underwater search.
An autopsy is being done at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore and Natural Resources Police continue to investigate the death.
In light of this tragedy, NRP spokesman Hunter Dortenzo reminds everyone, “Swimming safety is critically important in open-water scenarios like swimming from an anchored boat, which is far different from swimming in a pool or other controlled environment.”
Even if you know how to swim, it’s prudent to wear a life jacket because of factors like depth, current, visibility, weather, and other unexpected hazards in the water.
