DEAL ISLAND, Md. - A small Somerset County community is reflecting on the life of a waterman who died after falling off a boat Tuesday.
Neighbors have been searching around Deal Island for Ted Briddelle, 56, since Tuesday. Family members confirmed on social media Thursday night that Briddelle died.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday it searched for nearly 12 hours, but after scouring more than 70 nautical square miles, they suspended their operations Wednesday. There has been no sign of the missing man.
Briddelle, known as "Tab," fell overboard two miles west of Deal Island. Deale Volunteer Fire Chief Donald Ford said the man is very much on the community's minds.
"Tab will be missed. I hope they find him soon though. But you know, it's a sad thing. But the community, we've had four or five boys die this year. And young people just need to watch out for themselves a little better," Ford said.
Briddelle was featured in a 2021 interview with WBOC, discussing the impact of DNR regulations on watermen.
"In bad weather it really hurts us because we have a place to go to get out of the wind. Right now we have no place to get out the wind," Briddelle said at the time.
David Webster, Deal Island's pastor who also works on the water, described Briddelle as a hard worker who loved his family.
"Tab was a hard worker, a young man who every day worked hard to make everybody be able to do what they did. He loved his family, his daughter was devastated the morning we heard the news and rightly so, his sisters and brothers, they were all calling me," Webster said.
Webster added that Briddelle was selfless until the very end.
"Tab was just a good guy, he would help anybody at any time, he was always polite to everybody and always pleasant. You never heard Tab complaining too much. He was a character, he liked to carry on and cut up, and even when he fell into the water the Captain was trying to get him, he said this wasn't your fault. And it's just a sad day for the whole island," Webster said.
The Coast Guard released a statement after calling off its search, saying in part, "There has been no sign of him and the case has been suspended pending further information."
On Friday, July 26th, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police officially announced they had recovered Briddelle's body on Thursday.