A large-scale search is underway for a teenager who vanished beneath the water after his 10-foot fishing boat overturned on a Maryland river.
Mark Everett Coates III, 18, was last seen at about 5 p.m. Wednesday after launching his aluminum jon boat near the Hatem Memorial Bridge, between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland Natural Resources Police said.
Authorities said Coates put his boat into the water at the Water Street Boat Ramp. The vessel was discovered overturned Thursday morning in the Susquehanna River near Garrett Island, roughly half a mile upstream.
The search and rescue operation entered its third day Saturday, with crews continuing to comb the river for 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 on the water for all vessels except those involved in the rescue effort. Officials urged boaters to avoid the search area between the Tydings Memorial Bridge and the Amtrak Bridge.
Police also said ‘aviation resources’ were expected to assist with the operation throughout the day. Drone flights in the area were restricted to law enforcement and emergency personnel.
Mark Everett Coates III, 18, was last seen at about 5 p.m. Wednesday. His jon boat was found overturned Thursday morning in the Susquehanna River near Garrett Island
The search for Coates entered its third day Saturday as Maryland police warned that high winds had made conditions unsafe for all vessels except rescue teams
The US Coast Guard has joined Maryland police in the effort to locate the missing teen boater.
Coates had gone fishing before he disappeared, Maryland police told the Baltimore Banner.
According to the outlet, police said Coates was the boat’s only occupant 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 showed Coates was an enthusiastic fisherman who often posed aboard boats while holding up his catch.
Chris Scarlato, who works at a marina close to where the boat was found, said a coworker spotted the overturned vessel at around 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 gone fishing before disappearing and was the only person aboard his boat
Maryland Natural Resources Police said Coates launched his 10-foot aluminum boat from the Water Street Boat Ramp before he vanished
Scarlato said the water had been ‘really dead flat’ and there were ‘no winds at all’ on the night Coates disappeared.
Havre de Grace resident John Himelright, who said he lives ‘right on the water,’ reported seeing boats, dive teams and search dogs looking 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.’
He said the incident had also reminded him ‘that you always have to be on your guard.’
‘Watch out for others and watch the tides,’ he added. ‘Watch the weather, of course. That’s a big one. Storms come in pretty quick.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Maryland Natural Resources Police and Coates’s mother for comment.