Assateague Drowning Victim Identified

ASSATEAGUE -- More details emerged this week in the fatal boating accident just off the coast of Assateague Island last Wednesday, including the identification of the drowning victim.

Shortly after noon last Wednesday, Coast Guard Station Ocean City responded to a reported capsizing of a small commercial boat in the surf just off the coast of Assateague with victims in the water. The Coast Guard launched a rescue boat and responded to the scene and found one of the victims had made his way to shore, while the second was still in the water. Assateague National Seashore rangers also responded and assisted with the rescue of one of the victims and the recovery of the second.

The victim who made his way out of the water was taken by boat to the Coast Guard station in Ocean City and was later transported to AGH in Berlin. The second victim was recovered by park rangers and was also transported to AGH where he was declared deceased, the victim of an apparent drowning.

This week it was learned the drowning victim was Robert Michael Kennedy, 54, of Virginia Beach, the owner of East Coast Hydrographic Surveyors. The company does marine survey work and consulting and Kennedy and the other victim were doing survey work off  the coast of Assateague last Wednesday in a 26-foot boat when the vessel capsized in the heavy surf.