Good Samaritan Rescues 2 of 3 Men Onboard Sinking Boat in Frigid Waters
ST. LEONARD, Md. (November 7, 2010)—The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) reports that the body of missing boater, Timothy Dale Bourne, age 50, of Port Republic, was recovered at 1:30 pm on Sunday, approximately 120 yards south from where the vessel sank in the Patuxent River. Recovery was made by members of the Prince Frederick Volunteer Fire Department and the Calvert County Dive team.
Bourne has been the object of an intense search by NRP, Coast Guard, and area fire companies since his disappearance after a boating accident on Saturday evening. Bourne was a passenger in a vessel that sank when a wave came over the stern of the vessel.
According to police, at 6:30 pm on Saturday, Thomas Eric Johnson, age 46, of Hollywood, was returning from fishing in his 20 foot Wellcraft when the vessel experienced engine trouble. Johnson anchored the vessel and called a nearby marina for assistance. While Johnson and the other two occupants, Julius Lamond Camp, age 37, of Leonardtown, and Bourne waited for assistance, the vessel took a large wave over the stern causing it to sink.
Police report that all three occupants put on life jackets and jumped into the water. A jet skier, who heard the victim’s call for help responded to their location. The skier was able to transport Johnson and Camp to shore. The jet skier could not locate Bourne, who was separated from the others due to the strong current in the river.
Johnson and Camp were transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital for hyperthermia.
Officers from NRP, Coast Guard, and members from St. Leonard VFD, Prince Frederick VFD, Solomon’s VFD, and Benedict VFD searched the area by vessel. A Maryland State Police aviation unit searched the area by air. The search continued until midnight Saturday and resumed at first light with the addition of NRP’s Underwater Operation Unit using side scan sonar.
Bourne’s body was sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for autopsy.
This was the second serious boating accident in the area Saturday. NRP responded to an earlier water rescue which occurred at 11:15 a.m. in Chesapeake Bay, one mile south of Breezy Point. During this rescue, the vessel was taking on water and had five people on board. Units from NRP and Prince Frederick VFD were able to safety transport all five occupants off the vessel, which was eventually towed back to shore.