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Searchers recover body off the coast of Sullivan

One of the two swam to shore and called 911 while the other did not make it to shore.

SULLIVAN, Maine — The Maine Marine Patrol recovered the body of a man who reportedly went in the water Thursday morning at approximately 10:30 after the canoe he and another man were in capsized approximately 100 yards from shore in Flanders Bay, Sullivan.

Marine Patrol officials released the identity of the man whose body was recovered as 36-year-old Rober Hill of Trenton. 

According to the Department of Marine Resources spokesperson Jeff Nichols, the two were planning to harvest clams when their canoe capsized. One of the two swam to shore and called 911 while the other did not make it to shore. Marine Patrol conducted a search nearby with three patrol vessels and along the shore on foot.

Nichols said, the body of the deceased male was recovered at approximately 1:30 pm by Marine Patrol and confirmed deceased by local EMS. 

The canoe has also been recovered. Marine Patrol reports that neither appears to have been wearing life jackets. Names of the two men are being withheld until the family of the deceased man is notified.

Credit: NCM
Marine Patrol has recovered the body of a male who reportedly went in the water this morning at approximately 10:30 after the canoe he and another man were in capsized approximately 100 yards from shore near Ober Cove Road in Flanders Bay, Sullivan.

The US Coast Guard was also involved in the search with a 47' rescue boat, and a helicopter. Sullivan Fire Department and good Samaritans were also on-scene searching.

Nichols said the water temperature at the time of the search was 52 degrees.

This story was updated from an earlier version at 2:30 on Thursday. 

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