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Looking for closure, man heads onto Chesapeake Bay to search for missing brother following crash

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Posted at 1:11 PM, Jan 02, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-03 14:29:38-05

KIPTOPEKE, Va. -- Saturday morning may have been cold, windy and foggy, but that was not going to stop Kevin Mezick and a small crew of searchers from finding his brother, Erik.

They boarded a boat at the Kiptopeke State Park Boat Launch and went off into the Chesapeake Bay with the hopes of finding him.

Kevin posted to Facebook asking for the public's help in searching the waters for his brother. He said he is hoping for closure.

Erik Mezick was driving a box truck on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel when his truck tilted over, going over a rail and landing in the water below. Local emergency crews and the Coast Guard recovered the truck, but could not find Erik.

The Coast Guard started a search from Erik, but suspended the search that same day. A Coast Guard media representative explained to News 3 by phone that the search, made complicated by Mezick being in a truck, was suspended due to the survivability rate. The water temperature was in the 40s and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration continued to log temperatures in that range on Saturday.

News 3 reached out to Kevin by phone as they were still on the water, but did not hear back.

Their boat did not return as the day went on. More relatives and neighbors arrived to search the shore, but later left the park.