NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

June 19, 2010
Vol. 40, No. 213

For more information, contact Sgt. Gregory Rhodes, Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, 302-542-6102 or 302-739-9913, or Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Presumed drowning victim’s body recovered by
DNREC Fish & Wildlife Enforcement agents

MILLSBORO – DNREC Division Fish & Wildlife Enforcement agents recovered the body Saturday of a Millsboro-area man who was reported last seen three days earlier on a pontoon boat docked behind his home.

The presumed drowning victim was identified as Edward Paul Watcheski, Jr., 69, of the Pots-Nets community, whose home was off the Bayside Marina near where his body was found Saturday morning.

Fish & Wildlife agents began searching for him Friday afternoon following a 911 call placed by Mr. Watcheski’s wife, who was out of town and had been unable to reach her husband by phone. The Indian River Fire Company and Delaware State Police assisted in locating the body.

A relative of Mr. Watcheski told enforcement agents that he had complained of heart pains earlier in the week. He is believed to have fallen overboard from his boat, as enforcement agents found a radio still playing on it when they arrived Friday afternoon to investigate his disappearance. The body was turned over to the Sussex County medical examiner’s office for determining cause of death.

For more information, contact Sgt. Gregory Rhodes, Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, at 302-542-6102.