Family confirms body of Fruitland man who crashed off CBBT found on North Carolina beach

A family member has confirmed the body of Erik Mezick, the Fruitland man who was behind the wheel of a box truck that went over the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in December, has been found in North Carolina.

Kevin Mezick told Delmarva Now that the body discovered Friday morning at a Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach in North Carolina is that of his 47-year-old brother.

Erik Mezick was driving for Cloverland Green Spring Dairy on a route that passed over the bridge-tunnel when his truck plunged into the Chesapeake Bay on the morning of Dec. 29, 2020.

Initial efforts to locate him were unsuccessful, but family, friends and community members refused to give up the search. The Finding Erik Mezick Facebook page and its more than 8,600 followers helped to keep the effort going.

A local resident spotted the body of a male on a Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach between the villages of Salvo and Avon at about 9:14 a.m. Friday, according to a National Park Service news release.

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Park rangers along with the Dare County Sheriff's Office, Dare County Emergency Medical Services and Chicamacomico Banks Fire Department responded to the 911 call. 

The release stated that the body appeared to have been in the ocean for an extended period and was being transferred to the North Carolina Medical Examiner's Office. Officials have not yet publicly identified the body as Erik Mezick.