The mother of a Down East lobsterman who disappeared a month ago while fishing confirmed Thursday night that a body found in the ocean Monday morning was that of her son.
Tylar Michaud on his lobster boat. Photo courtesy of Valerie Kennedy
Valerie Kennedy notified a Press Herald reporter that authorities have confirmed the body belongs to her son, 18-year-old Tylar Michaud, of Steuben. Kennedy declined to comment further.
A Jonesport lobsterman discovered the body floating in the Atlantic Ocean near Addison on Monday morning, exactly a month after Michaud was last seen in the area. The body was taken to the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta to be identified.
The discovery came just one day after friends and family gathered at Sumner Memorial High School in Sullivan for a celebration of Michaud’s life attended by several hundred people. Michaud was a recent graduate of the high school.
Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesperson Jeff Nichols said the body was recovered just after 9:30 a.m. Monday about 7 miles from Petit Manan Island, near where Michaud disappeared. Michaud’s lobster boat was found on July 21, but he was not on board.
Dozens of members of the tight-knit Down East fishing community joined the Coast Guard, the Maine Marine Patrol and other agencies in an intense search that covered land, air and sea. When the effort failed to turn up Michaud within 24 hours, his family members said they knew it was unlikely he was still alive.
“I’m grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support that followed Tylar’s disappearance. The efforts of all who joined in the difficult search were unprecedented. Many agencies and individuals devoted countless hours to this search. It speaks volumes about the profound impact a loss like this can have,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, said in a statement Friday.
Despite his youth, Michaud was an experienced lobsterman who regularly worked with other commercial fishermen and by himself on his 30-foot boat F/V Top Gun, his family said. He planned to use his 300 lobster traps to pay for college at Maine Maritime Academy, which he was to attend in the fall.
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