Body of Publisher Phil Merrill found in the bay SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Staff Writer The body of Capital-Gazette Publisher Philip Merrill was found this afternoon in the Chesapeake Bay near Poplar Island in Talbot County, Natural Resources Police and Coast Guard officials said. Missing since June 10, the 72-year-old owner of The Capital and former diplomat was identified by the clothing he was wearing. Col. Mark Chaney, superintendent of state Natural Resources Police, said the body was wearing a shirt with the name of Mr. Merrill’s boat, the Merrilly. A boater spotted Mr. Merrill’s body about 12:30 p.m. in the water 1 1/2 miles southwest of Poplar Island. It was about 11 1/2 miles northeast of where his 41-foot sailboat was found adrift near Plum Point in Calvert County and about 1 mile south of where police used special sonar to search the bay floor. Col. Chaney said the body was just outside where searchers focused their efforts. Mr. Merrill’s body was first taken to Tilghman Island. Col. Chaney said Mr. Merrill’s body will be taken to a funeral home and then to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy tomorrow, where the medical examiner will formally identify the body. Mr. Merrill, who sailed the bay since 1958, was last seen at about 2 p.m. June 10 when he set sail alone from his waterfront home in Arnold. The boat was found about 4 1/2 hours later. Police said he typically went out Asquith Creek, down the Severn River and across the bay to Kent Island. His family and friends said he then would cut south to the Thomas Point Lighthouse, then north — past the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Philip Merrill Environmental Center — and then back home. During this trip — probably while he was still on his way to Kent Island, because his boat was found adrift with full sails — Mr. Merrill went overboard. He was not wearing a life jacket. Police are still investigating what caused him to fall off the boat. Officials from the Natural Resource Police, Anne Arundel County Fire Department and Baltimore City Fire Department searched for Mr. Merrill for almost nine days, employing as many as seven boats and three pieces of high-tech sonar equipment. The Coast Guard, using boats, a helicopter and an airplane, also participated in the first several days of the search effort. An untold number of friends also volunteered their time and searched the bay aboard their boats over the weekend. Police stopped using the side scanning sonar to look for Mr. Merrill’s body Saturday, when they joined a search for two men who fell off a boat in the Potomac River. Col. Chaney also said authorities suspected Mr. Merrill’s body already had surfaced, explaining why they didn’t bring the sonar back to the bay today. A celebration of life ceremony for Mr. Merrill will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. Family and close friends are invited. ——— sdaugherty@capitalgazette.com Published June 19, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.