Lusby, MD – After three drownings occurred within a span of eight days, Calvert County officials are taking measures to warn Chesapeake Bay swimmers in a private community.

Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans [R] told The BayNet that he, along with County Commissioner Mike Hart [R – District 1], County Administrator Terry Shannon and Calvert Marine Museum (CMM) Director Doug Alves met Sunday, Aug. 2 with members of the Cove Point Beach community regarding the alerting of swimmers about the hazards of wading into the bay in that area.

Evans said the parties agreed to the posting of signs at the entrances to the beach and on the county property fence at Cove Point Light Station, a facility that is part of CMM. The sheriff said county government would be posting the signs.

“Deputies will be making patrol checks,” Evans added.

According to Department of Natural Resources (DNR) spokeswoman Karis King, “We only post signs on state park property and only if there is a history of drowning incidents/close calls resulting from a hazard that may not be obvious. We do post general safety signs at our beaches/designated swimming areas. Other areas are swim at your own risk.”

On Friday evening, July 24, two brothers—Daniel Jason Brown, 37, a resident of Cove Point Beach; and Douglas Howell Brown, 39 of Washington, DC—were swimming off Cove Point with Daniel Brown’s son. According to the sheriff’s office, the three began swimming against the tide. Daniel Brown’s son made it back to shore to seek aid for the two brothers, who subsequently disappeared beneath the surface of the water. Daniel Brown’s body was found the following afternoon by a recreational boater and short distance from where he and Douglas Brown disappeared. Douglas Brown’s body was located Monday, July 27 off Breezy Point by a charter boat captain.

On Saturday afternoon, Aug. 1, responders were again dispatched to Cove Point Beach for a report of a swimmer in need of rescue in the waters near the Cove Point Lighthouse. The swimmer, identified as Michael Stanley Oliver, 57 of Clinton, was caught in the swift current. After personnel from the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department reached Oliver by boat and pulled him out of the water, he had become unresponsive. Emergency Medical Services personnel performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation on Oliver, who was then transported by ambulance to Calvert Memorial Hospital. Oliver was pronounced dead a short time later.

A call to the Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office for information on the autopsies performed on the three men had not been returned as this story was being filed.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com