Body Recovered Day After Boat Fall

OCEAN CITY — Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) early last Sunday morning recovered the body of an Arbutus man who fell off a pontoon boat in Assawoman Bay the night before and drowned.

Around 7:30 p.m., Jordan Craig Hock, 23, fell off the bow of a 24-foot pontoon boat in the Assawoman Bay in the area of 126th Street while the vessel was underway. According to the NRP investigation, Robert Stanley Holmes, 53, of Landsdowne, Md., was operating the vessel at the time.

Holmes and the other passengers on the boat searched unsuccessfully for Hock before the search was widened. The NRP, Coast Guard and Maryland State Police Aviation searched for Hock for several hours on Saturday night before calling off the search around 11 p.m.

At day break the following morning, the NRP resumed the search utilizing surface searches, dragging operations, scuba divers and side-scan sonar. Around 9:50 a.m., NRP recovered Hock’s body in the bay in the area of 126th Street. The NRP Special Operations Division is continuing the investigation and alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor.