United Cajun Navy joins search for missing boater in Havre de Grace

HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — The search continues for a missing boater at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, where volunteers and state agencies are working together to find 18-year-old Mark Everett Coates III.

The United Cajun Navy put out a call for volunteers, and more than a dozen people responded, joining the search for Coates, who went missing after launching his 10-foot Jon boat into the river a week ago.

Watch: Search continues for missing boater

Josh Gill of the United Cajun Navy said the family asked the organization to assist in the search.

"We all know what we're doing here. We're here to find a young man who's been missing," Gill said.

Gill is coordinating volunteers to work alongside state and local agencies. He described how the search effort is being organized.

"They're going to utilize the tools that they have on their vessels and then from there they'll report back to us on what they find and what they don't find. So what we'll do is we're going to track their movement. They'll come back and report and say, Hey, here's the area that I went, and then we'll coordinate back with state DNR as well as state police and let them know these areas have been cleared," Gill said.

Gill emphasized that the volunteer effort is meant to supplement, not replace, the state's resources.

"Had lengthy conversations with the state. It's not that they scaled back. What they wanted to do was utilize their resources effectively and smart, and you can see out here today there's multiple entities. There's helicopters, there's boats, so the state has got a huge piece in this as well. And all we're doing is we're augmenting the state where additional boots on the ground," Gill said.

Certain areas of the Susquehanna River present challenges for searchers, including rip rap and jagged rocks along the coast, as well as the length of time that has passed since Coates went missing.

Gill is urging anyone with information to come forward.

"If you see something that you feel is important to this, call me. Don't hesitate, call me," Gill said.

The small town of Havre de Grace is filled with people hoping to reconnect Coates with his family.

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