Search widens in bay for body of fisherman who fell off powerboat

The search in the Chesapeake Bay was expanded yesterday for the body of a fisherman from Edgewater who fell overboard Tuesday afternoon while reaching for a fish he had caught.

Four boats and a helicopter from the state Department of Natural Resources searched a 150- square-mile area north of the Bay Bridge south to Bloody Point on the Eastern Shore to Saunders Point on the Western Shore of the bay, said Chuck Porcari, a department spokesman.

It was the third day that the search teams looked from dawn to dusk for the body of Joseph F. Lagundo, 51, who fell from a 34-foot Sea Ray powerboat.

Initially, divers searched the 40-degree water around Thomas Point near the mouth of the South River. But by Tuesday night, the rescue search became a recovery operation, authorities said.

The search will continue at dawn today, Porcari said.