Underwater Drone Leads Divers To Body Of Maryland Teen Known As 'Markie,' Missing Since Nov. 4

A boat launched at sunset, then found empty

Mark Everett Coates III, 18, launched his 10-foot aluminum jon boat from the Water Street Boat Ramp in his hometown of Havre de Grace, Maryland, on Wednesday, Nov. 4. He was last seen operating the boat near the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge around 5 p.m. that evening, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police (MNRP). He was wearing a chartreuse long-sleeve T-shirt and blue jeans, police said.

The next morning, Thursday, Nov. 5, a worker at a nearby marina spotted the boat capsized near Garrett Island, roughly half a mile upstream from the ramp where Coates had launched. Chris Scarlato told WBAL-TV his coworker found it around 7 a.m. "We didn't blink and we had two boats out there," Scarlato said. "I brought my personal boat."

Coates had gone fishing before he disappeared and was the boat's only occupant, police told the Baltimore Banner, according to the Daily Mail. He had no life jacket on when last seen, and none of the coverage indicates one was recovered with the boat.

Who Mark Coates was

Family and friends knew him as "Markie." He grew up in Havre de Grace and studied welding at Harford Technical High School, his family told the Baltimore Sun. After graduating, he went to work alongside his father.

He was an avid angler. Photos on his social media accounts showed him posing with different catches aboard boats, the Daily Mail reported.

His mother, Dawn Fitzgerald — who also goes by Dawn Fitzgerald Love on Facebook — described her son's world in plain terms. "His whole world was sunrise, sunset, rainbows and fish," she told the Baltimore Sun.

"I am living every mother's worst nightmare right now." — Dawn Fitzgerald, Mark Coates's mother, in a Facebook post reported by the Daily Mail.

A search that grew by the day

Within hours of the capsized boat's discovery, Maryland Natural Resources Police, Maryland State Police and the Baltimore County Police Department joined the search, along with the Susquehanna Hose Company and the U.S. Coast Guard.

High winds slowed the effort early on. "Weather conditions in the area are creating challenges in securing aviation resources to assist with the search," the Susquehanna Hose Company said on Nov. 5. Police closed the river between the Tydings Memorial Bridge and the Amtrak Bridge to all but rescue vessels.

By Monday, Nov. 9, MNRP said the operation had shifted to a surface search, adding drones and side-scan sonar. "These efforts began Monday morning and will continue until Mark is located and recovered," the agency said in a statement reported by WBAL-TV.

Volunteers mobilized alongside law enforcement. The United Cajun Navy brought 84 volunteers and 34 vessels into the search over a 48-hour span, according to Daily Voice. Dawn Fitzgerald, writing on Facebook that Friday, captured the toll the week was taking: "I am living every mother's worst nightmare right now," she wrote, describing herself as "in complete distress" and "hurt like never ... before."

The drone that found him

On Thursday, Nov. 12 — eight days after Coates went missing — volunteer searchers with Christian Aid Ministries Pennsylvania Search & Rescue spotted what MNRP called "a target of interest" in the water offshore of Garrett Island, using an underwater drone.

At approximately noon, dive teams from MNRP, Maryland State Police and the Baltimore County Police Department responded to the stretch of the Susquehanna River between the Tydings Memorial Bridge (I-95) and the Hatem Memorial Bridge (US 40). "Responding divers recovered the body, which was positively identified as Coates," MNRP said in its release.

What the family and searchers have said

The United Cajun Navy, which helped mobilize boats and volunteers throughout the search, posted a tribute on Facebook after the recovery. "There are no words that can take away the pain of losing a child. This is not the outcome any of us prayed for, but we hope bringing Markie home gives his family some measure of peace in the difficult days ahead," the post read.

"To Markie's family: Thank you for trusting us and allowing us to stand beside you during one of the most difficult moments imaginable. Your love, strength, and determination touched every one of us," the organization continued. "We came to Maryland for Markie. We leave carrying his memory with us."

Havre de Grace resident John Himelright, who lives on the water and watched the search unfold for days, told CBS Baltimore the news hit hard. "It's just sad," he said. "My first reaction was, how young is he, and whatever age is way too young." He said the loss was a reminder to "watch out for others and watch the tides ... Watch the weather, of course. That's a big one. Storms come in pretty quick."

Dawn Fitzgerald, reflecting on the outpouring of strangers who searched for her son, told the Baltimore Sun she found meaning in it. "I believe that God used Markie to pull people from all around the world to help them with their relationship with God, to keep their kids a little bit safer," she said. "I just feel like Markie's spirit was so powerful that it was meant for something bigger like this."

What happens next

No criminal case is attached to this story — the coverage describes a boating accident, not a crime. MNRP's investigation into exactly how and why the boat capsized is ongoing, and a medical examiner will determine the official cause and manner of death. The family has not yet announced funeral arrangements in the coverage reviewed.