Search crews recovered the bodies of two Virginia men whose small boat capsized in the Potomac River Sunday afternoon.
The two brothers, 45-year-old Fermin Alvarado and 31-year-old Matias Alvarado-Arrue, went into the water about a mile south of Leesylvania State Park in Virginia.
The crew of a nearby tugboat saw the men’s boat capsize, and called 911. The tug Amberjack was moored at Cockpit Point when crew members saw the men go overboard. But by the time they got to the area where the boat capsized, they couldn’t find the men.
Boat crews from Coast Guard Station Washington, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police (NRP), Prince William County, Fairfax County and Charles County searched for the Woodbridge, Virginia men Sunday. And a Coast Guard helicopter from Atlantic City, New Jersey joined in the search.
Maryland NRP tweeted Sunday evening that both men’s bodies were found, and thanked Charles County Dive Rescue and other partners for the quick recoveries. The bodies have been taken to the Medical Examiner’s office in Baltimore for autopsies.
Despite the recent warm weather, water temperatures on the Potomac are still around 47 degrees. NRP want to remind boaters that life jackets are mandatory in the upper Potomac (above Little Falls) and its tributaries until May 15.
-Meg Walburn Viviano
