UPDATE: Body that washed ashore on Hatteras Island believed to be man who drove off Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Dec.

The family of a delivery driver whose truck went off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on December 29 stated on social media that the body that washed ashore in between Avon and Salvo on April 9 was their loved one, Erik Mezick, 47, of Fruitland, Maryland.

“Erik has been found in North Carolina!” read the post on the Finding Erik Mezick Facebook page. “We have just been notified! We will be back with more information as we get it! We said he would present himself when he was ready and in true Eric style he did just that today on his favorite beach! We love you all!”

Per the Facebook page, Erik was seen exiting the truck into the water on December 29, 2020, and was not seen again.

In December, witnesses reported that they had seen Mezick in the water, drifting west in the bay. The U.S. Coast Guard, the Virginia Beach Fire Department, and other organizations coordinated efforts to try to find him after the incident.

On Friday morning, at 9:14 a.m., a local resident reported finding a body of a male on a Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach on Hatteras Island, between the villages of Salvo and Avon.

National Park Service law enforcement rangers, Dare County Sherriff’s Office, Dare County Emergency Medical Services and Chicamacomico Banks Fire Department all responded to the 911 call. Shortly after arriving on the scene, responders confirmed that the unidentified individual was deceased.

The body appeared to have been in the ocean for an extended period of time. The remains will be transferred to the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office.