Lobsterman discovers body in ocean off Addison

A Jonesport lobsterman discovered a body floating in the ocean near Addison on Monday morning, exactly a month after a young lobsterman was last seen in the area.

Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesperson Jeff Nichols said the body was recovered just after 9:30 a.m. about seven miles from Petit Manan Island, where 18-year-old Tylar Michaud, of Steuben, disappeared last month.

Nichols would not confirm whether the body was Michaud and said it was sent to the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta to be identified. He was unable to provide any updates regarding the person’s identity Monday night.

The discovery comes just one day after friends and family gathered at Sumner Memorial High School in the town of Sullivan for a celebration of Michaud’s life. Michaud, 18, was a recent graduate of the high school. Several hundred people attended his celebration of life Sunday, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Dozens of boats also participated in a traditional wreath ceremony on the ocean and a fireworks display to honor his life.

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 set to attend in the fall.

But on the afternoon of July 21, Michaud did not return from the thick fog around Petit Manan Point. That evening, a fisherman found his boat – still in gear, but empty.

Dozens of members of the tight-knit Downeast 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.

Angela Kennedy, wife of Tylar’s stepbrother, said Monday night in a text message that the family had nothing to say about the discovery.

“There is nothing to share at this time,” she said. “We will share with the public when we have information.”