WASHINGTON — Search crews have suspended their hunt for a man who fell off a sailboat.
On Friday evening, the search crews from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Coast Guard suspended their search for a man who fell overboard from a sailboat off Sandy Point State Park.
The Coast Guard searched the Chesapeake Bay for a man who fell out of a sailboat Thursday night. By Friday, the Coast Guard personnel had searched throughout the night, and covered more than 75 square nautical miles.
The agencies’ search for the man will resume Saturday.
Police say that at around 9 p.m., Kathleen Pryor, of Halethorpe, called 911 from the boat and reported that the man, Stephen Reynolds, had fallen overboard. The search stopped around 11:30 p.m. and resumed at first light Friday morning.
Anne Arundel County Fire Captain Russ Davies says the Coast Guard was searching the bay for the man in the area north of Sandy Point. The Maryland Natural Resources police say that Reynolds, who lived on the boat, and Pryor, who was unhurt, left the Baltimore Marine Center in the sailboat and headed south down the Chesapeake Bay. They decided to anchor for the evening just above the Bay Bridge around 9.
They were trying to bring the sails down in order to anchor for the evening when Reynolds fell overboard, the police say. He initially was able to hold onto the boat, but fell in the water. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket, the police say.
“We are looking where [Pryor] thinks he fell overboard,” says Candy Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Natural Resources police. “We will continue to expand that search circle today as we attempt to recover the body.
“With 50-degree water temperatures, this is pretty much a recovery effort. It’s not likely he survived the night.”
A body of a man was found by the Chester River, but Candy Thomson, Spokesperson for Maryland DNR police, says it is not the subject of this search.
Stay with WTOP for any developments.
