UPDATE AT 8:20 P.M.: The boat has been located, still running. It has been determined that the boat is unoccupied at this time. Crews will continue searching nearby waters.
UPDATE: A search and rescue helicopter has been requested from Patuxent River NAS. Boats from St. Mary’s County, Calvert County, Charles County and Anne Arundel County are all involved in the search and rescue effort as of 8:00 p.m.
MECHANICSVILLE, Md. — We are receiving reports this evening of a watercraft in distress call that was placed.
At approximately 7:04 p.m. on December 29, first responders were alerted that a person who went out on the water earlier today had not yet returned and may be in danger.
The initial call placed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources stated that the missing person, identified as a male, had last spoken to his girlfriend this afternoon at approximately 3:12 p.m. The man went out on the water at approximately 1 p.m. from the 40000 block of Waterview Drive in Mechanicsville on a vessel with a Maryland registration.
The last time that his girlfriend spoke with him, the man had indicated that he was in the area of Plum Point around Prince Frederick.
Reports indicate that a cell phone ping has been detected approximately one mile off shore of Dares Beach in Calvert County.
A boat from the Ridge Volunteer Fire Department is currently responding to the ping in what is considered an “open water rescue vessel.”
It can be noted that the Maritime SAR Convention defines the distress phrase as “a situation wherein there is reasonable certainty that a person, a vessel or other craft is threatened by grave and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance.”
This is a developing story. We will continue to provide additional details as they are made available.