Authorities are conducting an urgent search for a teenager who vanished after his 10-foot fishing boat overturned in a Maryland river.
Mark Everett Coates III, 18, was last seen at about 5 p.m. Wednesday after launching an aluminum jon boat near the Hatem Memorial Bridge, between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland Natural Resources Police said.
Coates put in from the Water Street Boat Ramp. His boat was discovered overturned near Garrett Island in the Susquehanna River, roughly half a mile upstream, on Thursday morning, authorities said.
The search and rescue operation continued into its third day Saturday, with crews scouring the river for signs of the missing teenager.
Coates’s mother, who identified herself on Facebook as Dawn Fitzgerald Love, said Friday that she was “in complete distress” and “hurt like never… before.”
“I am living every mother’s worst nightmare right now,” she wrote.
Maryland police warned that strong winds had created dangerous conditions for all vessels except those involved in the rescue effort. Boaters were asked to avoid the search area between the Tydings Memorial Bridge and the Amtrak Bridge.
Authorities also said aviation resources were expected to assist throughout the day. Drone operations in the area were restricted to law enforcement and emergency personnel.
Mark Everett Coates III, 18, was last seen around 5 p.m. Wednesday. His jon boat was found overturned in the Susquehanna River near Garrett Island the following morning
The search for Coates continued into its third day Saturday as Maryland police warned that high winds had made the river unsafe for vessels not involved in the rescue operation
The US Coast Guard has joined Maryland police in the effort to locate the missing boater.
Coates had been fishing before he disappeared, Maryland police told the Baltimore Banner.
According to the outlet, police said Coates was alone in the boat and was wearing a chartreuse long-sleeve T-shirt and blue jeans when he was last seen.
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Images shared on social media suggest Coates was an enthusiastic angler. He often appeared in photographs aboard boats, holding up his catches for the camera.
Chris Scarlato, who works at a marina near the location where the boat was found, said a coworker spotted the overturned vessel at about 7 a.m.
Scarlato said he and several other boaters quickly joined the search.
“We didn’t blink and we had two boats out there,” Scarlato told WBAL–TV. “I brought my personal boat.”
Police said Coates had been fishing before he disappeared and was the only person aboard the boat
Maryland Natural Resources Police said Coates launched the 10-foot aluminum boat from the Water Street Boat Ramp before he vanished
Scarlato said the river had been “really dead flat,” with “no winds at all,” on the evening Coates disappeared.
John Himelright, a Havre de Grace resident who said he lives “right on the water,” said he had watched boats, dive teams and search dogs comb the area for the missing teenager.
“It’s just sad,” Himelright told CBS Baltimore. “My first reaction was, how young is he, and whatever age is way too young.”
The incident, he said, underscored the need for people on the water to remain vigilant.
“Watch out for others and watch the tides,” he said. “Watch the weather, of course. That’s a big one. Storms come in pretty quick.”
Our News Outlet has contacted Maryland Natural Resources Police and Coates’s mother for comment.
