An 18-year-old vanished on a 10-foot boat in Maryland, then an underwater drone helped searchers find him a week later

The body of 18-year-old Mark Everett Coates III was recovered from the Susquehanna River, PEOPLE reports. Dive teams from the Maryland Natural Resources Police, Maryland State Police, and Baltimore County Police Department located the teen near Garrett Island during the afternoon.

This recovery brings a conclusion to a week-long search that started after authorities found a 10-foot aluminum jon boat capsized near the same island on November 5. The search efforts began in earnest that morning after officials received the initial report regarding the empty vessel. 

Coates was last seen operating the boat near the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge at around 5:00 PM on Wednesday, November 4. He was wearing a chartreuse long-sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans at the time.

The search team used an underwater drone

Finding the teen proved difficult due to environmental factors. On November 5, the Susquehanna Hose Company noted that local weather conditions created significant hurdles for securing aviation resources to aid in the search. The United States Coast Guard eventually worked to develop a plan for additional support as various agencies and volunteers joined the operation.

The breakthrough came when volunteer search personnel with the Christian Aid Ministries Pennsylvania Search and Rescue team used an underwater drone to identify a target of interest offshore of Garrett Island. This technology proved vital in helping divers locate the body.

The United Cajun Navy, which helped coordinate volunteers and vessels during the search, shared a message on Facebook regarding the outcome. “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. 

The organization noted that the community effort brought together divers, drone teams, and boat operators with the goal of bringing the teen home. They concluded the post by saying, “Rest peacefully, Markie. You mattered, and you will not be forgotten.”

Coates was known to his family as Markie. His mother, Dawn Fitzgerald, spoke about his character and his connection to the water. She mentioned that he spent his time focused on the outdoors often. 

“His whole world was sunrise, sunset, rainbows and fish,” Fitzgerald said. She also expressed her belief that his spirit held a powerful influence on those around him. “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. I just feel like Markie’s spirit was so powerful that it was meant for something bigger like this.”

Before his disappearance, Coates had graduated from Harford Technical High School, where he studied welding. He had recently started working alongside his father.