Multiple agencies searched for the owner of a boat that was found circling Monday afternoon with no one aboard in Curtis Creek just south of Baltimore City. Two days later, the boat owner’s body was recovered.
The Anne Arundel County Fire Department tells Bay Bulletin that the boat was running in circles outside the Coast Guard Yard on Curtis Creek in the Patapsco River. It was a green aluminum boat around 14 feet long.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police responded and officers were able to stop the circling boat.
According to Anne Arundel County Firefighter-Paramedic Don Clime, the boat was likely launched from Solley’s Cove. Several agencies responded to search for the operator, but didn’t find anyone.
Search crews know who the owner of the boat is, a yet unidentified elderly man, and “he is not accounted for at this time,” Clime says.
A Maryland State Police helicopter helped in the search along with the Anne Arundel County fire boat and dive team. The Baltimore City and Annapolis fire departments also sent marine units to help. Crews searched Tuesday and Wednesday using side-scan sonar before the victim’s body was recovered.
He is not being identified at his family’s request.
The investigation has been turned over to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police.
Clime and the fire department urge everyone to wear a life jacket when you are on or near the water.
-Meg Walburn Viviano
