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Two good friends, Keech Edelen and Jay Downing, along with Roger Grissom and Gregg Moore were in a fishing tournament (Lower Potomac/Bay) yesterday when the weather got really bad. They have not been heard from since 4:40pm Saturday (11/19).
Their boat was taking on water at 5:50pm when they contacted the Coast Guard via radio on the boat. There is a search party out looking around the known place they were at.
Prayer for everyone would be greatly appreciated.
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They found someone this morning, but no details............other than he is alive! Still searching..........
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Just got word that Jay was found alive this morning. He is in the hospital...no word on his condition. No word on the other three.
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two more were just found!!!
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Keech perished....RIP.
May God bless his family. I've met them, great folks.
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This is the latest (official):
Rescue crews are searching for one more remaining fisherman after a boat sank in the Potomac River Saturday evening.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources crews received a mayday call around 5 p.m. Saturday south of Breton Bay in the Potomac River after a boat with four fishermen completely sank. Rescuers found one fisherman, who was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment.
Around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, DNR said they recovered the bodies of two of the fishermen. The search is continuing for the remaining missing man.
They said all of the fishermen were wearing lifejackets, but high winds with 46 mph gusts created violent, 3 foot waves on the water, hampering rescue efforts. They said they were searching in a wide part of the river.
Rescue crews are attempting to track one of the missing fishermen using a ping from one of their cellphones.
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So sad. Weather is nothing to play around with.
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Ow man, that's terrible
Mother Nature's a mean mistress
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A friend talked to a friend of Jay's and said that he was in good condition. He endured hell for 12 hours while clinging to the hull, the others could not hang on.
Jay is a tough cookie but a teddy bear of a man.
This is hard to get a grip on....as posted earlier, they found Keech's body (his friend Lee Tippett found him) as well as Gregg's. Roger is still unacccounted for.
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BALTIMORE — The Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for a missing boater southeast of White Point Beach.
The search for the man began after he and three boaters went missing after requesting emergency assistance when his boat began taking on water Saturday evening during declining weather.
One boater was located Sunday at approximately 6:30 a.m. on top of the overturned hull of the vessel. At approximately 8:50 a.m., a Coast Guard boatcrew and good Samaritans located two boaters unresponsive.
Involved in the search was a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes, Md., and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
Rescuers searched approximately 279 square nautical miles.
“The Coast Guard extends its deepest sympathies to the friends and families who lost loved ones from this tragedy,” said Cmdr. Michael Batchelder, deputy commander, Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region. “The decision to suspend a search effort is always one of the most difficult.”
For breaking news, follow the 5th District on Twitter @USCGMidAtlantic.
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wow...just sad to hear. condolences to the family and all the friends. It hits close to home for us all.
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Sad news. Condolences to all.
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I just talked with Billy at D & S Marine. He talked to Jay who still in the hospital and will be for a week or so. Jay did say that the hull broke apart. Hard to survive that in a storm even with all of the experience on that boat.
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Scary stuff. So sorry for the families.
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So sorry to hear this. Condolences to all.
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From Heather Edelen....Arrangements for my husband, Keech Edelen.
Viewing- Friday, November 25th at Brinsfield-Echols Funeral Home in Charlotte Hall, MD
2pm-4pm and 6pm-8pm with prayers at 7pm
Funeral/Mass- Saturday, November 26th at St. Josephs Parish in Pomfret, MD, 11am
Celebration of Life immediately following at the Parish Hall.
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I heard about this on the news this morning. Terrible tragedy.
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Roger's body has yet to be found. There will be an armada (hundreds) of boats out tomorrow looking for him. They are covering the entire lower Potomac.
Bring him home....
This is a post on another board from Capt. Franco Foraci:
These guys were my best fishing friends. I fished the MSSA with all of them on my boat in the spring until Roger and Greg bought this boat about 2 months ago. I certainly cant speak for Jay as he has to live with the terrible thoughts of what happened. God Bless his mind and his body. I fished all day next to the crew. In my life---I have never experienced the Potomac in its fury like I did on Saturday at 4:30. The river was beautiful at 4:15 where I was. It was all I could handle in my 36 MOMENTS later. Complete change of direction to the worst wind NW when traveling up the river . I witnessed a change of direction and seas build from 1 to 6 footers in 10 minutes. It was NOT 3 footers or even close. I lost a lot of things on the boat but nothing in comparison to what the community lost on Saturday. These guys were the best of the best. Not a cliché statement. They did everything right I am positive. They take no chances. They are just like us. Sickened by the competition of fishing, the thrill and rush of a screaming reel, the comradery among team members. Its a magical feeling when things click and you win a tournament. This will never change if you find peace and serenity on the water. We can always Monday morning quarterback but I can tell you first hand for sure, I would have done no different. This crew was the real deal. Every person on board had experience in very different facets of what makes a team click. Roger-- Mr. Potomac, Greg--the electronic guru, KEECH--athletic and persistent, Jay--the survivor--the marine mechanic and ex marine. It was magic with these guys for sure. Please know at this point our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased. Capt. Lee Tippett and I as well as a community of people will be out tomorrow to hopefully bring Roger home. I will post some thoughts and things that may help us in the future, but for now we need a lot of people supporting each other. I have had guys reach out that I haven't talked to for years. Thank you and may God Bless all of you. We are going to need it.
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Just got word that the boat was found....52 miles away at the mouth or the Rapahanock River. Some other artifacts have been found but Roger has not been found yet.
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Keech was laid to rest today.....
Got to see and talk to Jay who is recovering....he has a long road ahead but he is one tough Marine!
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Hope he recovers soon.
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Was Roger ever found?
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gonefishing wrote:
Was Roger ever found?
Unfortunately, not yet.
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