Crash victim’s family grateful to learn police are still searching

Search continues for driver whose truck plunged over side of Bay BridgeTunnel last week

Word came Tuesday that not every agency has suspended the search for the driver whose truck plunged over the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel last week.

Virginia Marine Police decided to keep combing the bay — two boats daily plus a plane — after the initial, multi-agency search for Erik Mezick was called off by the Coast Guard about 30 hours after the accident.

“We want to let the family know that somebody is still looking,” said Matthew Rogers, a marine police colonel. “We have resources deployed to see if we can get their loved one back home.”

Mezick’s family was surprised to learn that any officials are still looking. They’ve taken up the hunt themselves with the help of a band of volunteers.

Reached on a boat Tuesday morning, Mezick’s brother, who was scouring shorelines, under the bridge-tunnel and around Fisherman’s Island with his father and a friend, said the family is “very grateful” for the news.

“To hear that, it’s great,” Kevin Mezick said. “I don’t even know what else to say. We were totally unaware.”

Marine police, a division of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, tend to “just do our thing quietly,” Rogers said, and not even the Coast Guard would have known they’ve continued the hunt independently.

“As far as I know, we’re the only agency still out there,” Rogers said.

Mezick, 47, was heading north on the CBBT on Dec. 29, driving a 20-foot box truck for Baltimore-based Cloverland Greenspring Dairy. His truck broke through the guard rail around 8:20 a.m. near milepost 14 of the 17-mile span.

CBBT police are still trying to determine the cause of the accident. No other vehicles were involved. Mezick’s truck floated briefly after landing in the water and witnesses saw him outside the cab, but it’s unclear if he climbed out or was thrown out.

Now, the mission is almost surely about recovery instead of rescue. With water temperatures hovering near 40 degrees and powerful currents, it’s unlikely even an uninjured person could survive for any length of time.

“It would test even the most experienced swimmer,” Rogers said.

Winter is also making it harder for searchers.

“Once a body goes under in cold water, it can stay down for weeks, even months,” Rogers said, while storms and currents can move “the person all over the Chesapeake Bay, even force them to the mouth and out to the ocean.”

Marine police are focusing on areas where “debris or obstructions” could cause a body to become lodged.

Wreckage from Mezick’s truck has washed up along Virginia Beach. A piece that appears to have come from a cab door turned up Sandbridge.

Tracy Humrich, who lives on the north end of Virginia Beach, spotted a larger piece — likely from the cargo section of the truck — bearing the Cloverland Dairy logo Tuesday morning while walking on the beach near Fort Story.

“I know it wasn’t there yesterday morning ,” Humrich said. “She must have rolled up yesterday with the high tide.”

Humrich tracked down Mezick’s family on Facebook and told them about her discovery. Kevin Mezick’s wife, Nicole, was already nearby, planning to walk along beaches to look for any sign of her brotherin-law.

Nicole Mezick hugged Humrich and her husband. As painful as the finds are, each piece is important to the family.

“I know in a sense it’s irrelevant,” she said, but “we’re gonna hold on to whatever we can.”

They’ve made arrangements to bring the pieces back to Maryland.

Rogers said marine police plan to continue searching through the weekend and re-evaluate next week.

If the family had only known, Nicole Mezick said, they would have reached out to thank VMRC sooner. No need.

“We understand the concerns of the family,” Rogers said, “and we want to do what we can.”