Chesapeake Bay Bridge wreck victim found in Outer Banks
"AVON, N.C. – A body that washed up Friday morning in the Outer Banks is that of Erik Mezick, the Maryland man whose box truck plunged off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel more than three months ago.
His family announced the news through “Finding Erik Mezick,” a Facebook page they created after the Dec. 29 accident. In the months since Mezick went missing, his body drifted more than 100 miles before it came to rest on the beach between the villages of Salvo and Avon.
A resident reported finding the body of a male at 9:14 a.m. on the beach within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It appeared to have been in the ocean for a long time, according to a release from the seashore.
"The cause of the accident still hasn’t been determined. Conditions were windy that day on the CBBT but not enough to trigger traffic restrictions.
Erik Mezick, 47, was heading north on the 17-mile span, driving a 20-foot box truck on a delivery run for Baltimore-based Cloverland Greenspring Dairy. His truck crashed through the guard rail around 8:20 a.m. near milepost 14, about three-quarters of the way across, plummeting into frigid waters.
Witnesses saw him outside the cab, floating on the surface. He appeared unresponsive and was drifting west toward the bay when he went under.
Multiple agencies searched for him, covering nearly 200 square miles. Debris from the truck washed ashore days later in Virginia Beach.
"According to CBBT records, Mezick’s was the 16th over-the-side accident on the span. Most have been deadly, with bodies typically recovered within hours or a few days.
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