The body of Erik Mezick, the 47-year-old box truck driver whose tractor trailer crashed off the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in December 2020, was located on a Cape Hatteras National Seashore beach Friday.
A local resident reported finding a body on the beach between the villages of Salvo and Avon at 9:14 a.m., according to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
A spokesperson for Mezick's family confirmed that the remains, which had been in the ocean for an extended period of time, belonged to Mezick.
Searches for Mezick's body were suspended late last year, but his family continued searching the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore areas after the Coast Guard's search was called off.
At the time of the crash, Mezick was on a delivery to Virginia Beach, a 180-mile trip he made dozens of times every Tuesday and Thursday. Witnesses reported seeing Mezick exit the tractor trailer and drift west in the water, according to officials.
Parts of his truck were found in the Fort Story area.
Mezick leaves behind his wife Meghan and two children, 18-year-old Dylan and 16-year-old Hannah.
His remains will now be transferred to the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office.
