TULALIP – The body of a missing Tulalip tribal fisherman has been found.
Divers found Jonny Cavanaugh Jr., 19, Tuesday afternoon in thick eelgrass just inside Tulalip Bay, not far from where he drowned early Sunday when his boat capsized.
“It’s really good for the family,” said Tulalip police detective Robert Myers, who led the search effort. “Now they can get through their grieving and move on.”
Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald
Scores of family and tribal members gathered at Tulalip Bay Marina after learning that divers had found Cavanaugh’s jeans. His body, discovered about 3:40 p.m., was 20 feet away.
People wept as they walked away from the marina. Many went to a nearby community center to pray for the divers who helped search for Cavanaugh.
Despite the sadness, family friend Chelsie Reyes, 30, said the family is working toward closure.
“We’ve just been convinced they were going to find him, and they found him,” Reyes said. “That’s the most important thing right now.”
Cavanaugh was fishing with his cousin off Hermosa Beach about 3:45 a.m. Sunday when their gillnet became tangled in the boat’s propeller. The back of the boat was pulled down, causing it to capsize.
His cousin clung to a buoy and was saved by another fisherman.
The recovery effort began almost immediately. Boat patrols from the Tulalip Police Department, dive teams from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and helicopter crews from the sheriff’s office and U.S. Coast Guard scoured Tulalip Bay.
Tribal fisherman, divers and family members also searched.
Poor visibility in the water hampered the search. So did the eelgrass, which lines the bay’s low-tide shoreline. Myers said patches of eelgrass were eye-deep on the divers.
“Even the divers … had trouble walking through it, it was so thick,” he said.
Search teams used sonar on Monday while looking for Cavanaugh. When they reviewed the sonar maps on Tuesday, they spotted what they thought might be Cavanaugh’s remains, a sheriff’s office report said.
Cavanaugh’s body was found near Hermosa Beach, where his family gathered Sunday and Monday to wait. The beach was also Cavanaugh’s fishing camp, a place he thought of as home, family members said.
“We’re just so thankful of everybody who helped to find him,” Reyes said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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