Lonnie Johnson

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

A three-week search for a missing Maryland waterman came to a tragic end on Thursday after Natural Resources Police found his body in the waters near Taylors Island, authorities said.

NRP officials said Lonnie James Johnson, 65, of Chesapeake Beach, was found dead on Dec. 4 at approximately 12:30 p.m. after department aviators spotted a body during an aerial search aboard the agency’s helicopter, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Officers responded to the northwest shoreline of Taylors Island, south of the mouth of the Little Choptank River, where Johnson was recovered.

NRP said Johnson’s 23-foot center console boat was first found unmanned on Nov. 14 in the Taylors Island area, one day after he left Chesapeake Beach to go fishing on the afternoon of Nov. 13.

The discovery launched a massive, 21-day search effort involving Maryland State Police, the US Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol, Anne Arundel County Fire, Charles County Dive Rescue, Calvert County Rescue Dive Team, Baltimore County Police, Huntingtown Volunteer Fire, Saint Leonard Volunteer Fire, and “countless other allied agencies, volunteers, and good samaritans,” according to NRP.

The investigation remains active.