The Capital
E.B. Furgurson
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Natural Resources Police continue to search today for a 25-year-old man missing from Saturday afternoon’s fatal sailboat accident near the Sandy Point Light.
A 46-year-old man who had been aboard the boat died hours after being pulled from the water.
The sole survivor is a 25-year-old woman who was treated for hypothermia at Anne Arundel Medical Center and released.
Investigators have learned that the 18-foot Precision sailboat capsized when a strong gust of wind hit the area. Sgt. Art Windemuth, spokesman for the NRP, said the woman, Taylor Rogers of Salisbury, reported that the sail was accidentally tightened instead of loosened to handle the gust, causing the craft to capsize.
Rogers called 911 with her cellphone after the incident.
Why the sailboat then sunk is still under investigation. Windemuth said the answer to that question won’t come until the boat has been salvaged.
NRP police are still looking off Sandy Point for the body of Tyler Cordrey, of Eden, a small community just south of Salisbury.
Questions have arisen as to whether there was a delay before Anne Arundel County boats responded to the scene.
At 2:45 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard received a VHF radio call about a capsized vessel. Minutes later, a distress call was also placed to the Anne Arundel County 911 Center.
Both calls ended before a location was given.
The county dispatch center was able to triangulate the calls, spokesman Division Chief Michael Cox said this morning.
The NRP yesterday said the Coast Guard determined the general direction of the VHF call.
It was not until about an hour after the initial call that rescuers found Rogers. Minutes later they found Daniel Denike, 46, of Laurel in the frigid waters northeast of Sandy Point.
Rogers and Denike - whose age initially was reported as 40 - were transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center. Rogers was treated for hypothermia and later released. Denike’s injuries were fatal.
Windemuth said officials believe all three aboard the craft were wearing life jackets.
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