by  Seamus McGraw

June 13, 2006

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Annapolis, Md. (Crime Library) — Authorities are continuing their search in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay where publisher, diplomat and environmentalist Philip Merrill vanished while sailing last week, though they hold out little hope that the 72-year-old will be found alive.

Officially, authorities have said, the search effort has become a recovery effort and on Monday, some six boats, directed by the Maryland Natural Resources Police scoured a 100-square mile section of the bay around the spot where Merrill's 41-foot sailboat was found drifting about 7:15 p.m. Saturday. Authorities have said that it is unlikely that anyone, even a reportedly hale and hearty septuagenarian like Merrill, would survive more than 28 hours in the 62-degree waters of the bay.

The veteran sailor, who according to his family seldom wore a life jacket, was skippering his boat, the Merrilly, on an 18-mile round trip from Maryland's western shore to Kent Island on a clear and breezy day when he went missing, authorities have said.

The vessel was found drifting in shallow waters by two people on personal watercrafts. They boarded the boat, and when they found no one aboard, they contacted authorities and started the engine to draw the Merrilly out into deeper waters.

Authorities immediately began a search for the missing publisher, and by late Monday, with no trace yet found, they conceded that their search had turned to a recovery effort.

While authorities have said they do not yet know precisely what happened to the high-profile publisher and diplomat, they do not suspect foul play.

Merrill's disappearance at sea has sent a ripple of shock not just through Maryland, but beyond.

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