The bodies of two crabbers who disappeared Saturday evening were recovered Monday morning in Pasadena on the Patapsco River.
Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) says 27-year-old Mark Vetock of Glen Burnie and 27-year-old Tevin Calhoun of Pasadena were both found dead near Riviera Beach.
The Coast Guard said a good Samaritan found a “debris field” in the water 300 yards from the Brandon Shores Power Plant on Fort Smallwood Road.
The items found around 5 p.m. Saturday included “empty beer cans, a throwable flotation device, a cooler with I.D. inside and a gas can that appeared to have been snapped off a boat,” according to USCG.
An NRP boat crew and Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay response boat investigated the debris and began searching the area for signs of people in distress.
The Coast Guard later confirmed that the two people whose I.D.s were found in the debris field, Vetock and Calhoun, did, indeed, go crabbing on Saturday.
On Sunday, a Coast Guard helicopter joined the two boat crews in the search of Stoney Creek, Rock Creek, and North Beach. The two bodies were recovered a day later.
The fatalities close out a tragic weekend on the water. Vetock and Calhoun were the third and fourth boaters to die on the Chesapeake Bay on Saturday alone. A marine repair technician’s body was found four days after he disappeared while test-driving a boat in the Curtis Bay area Saturday morning. And a 39-year-old Secret Service agent died when her kayak overturned Saturday afternoon on the Severn River.
On Monday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan tweeted, “We are terribly saddened by the loss of Special Agent Stephanie Hancock, and residents Tevin Calhoun and Mark Vetock over the weekend in separate marine-related incidents. The First Lady and I are praying for their families, friends, and loved ones during this time of grief.”
Since then, two more people have died on the water, in a jet ski accident on the South River in Edgewater. The man and woman’s bodies were recovered early Wednesday morning.
With a busy holiday boating week ahead, Maryland Natural Resources Police wants to remind everyone of the key safety steps to take before and during your boat ride:
“Wear a life jacket. File a float plan with someone. That means tell then where you are going, when you are leaving and when you should be back. If they don’t hear from you, they should contact NRP. Everyone on board a boat should serve as a lookout to avoid collisions, not just the operator. NRP will be out with special patrols targeting impaired boaters, life jacket laws and bow riders,” says NRP acting spokesperson Capt. Melissa Scarborough.
Governor Hogan echoed the police, saying, ” Have fun, but stay safe.”
-Meg Walburn Viviano
