Natural Resources Police

Until a week ago, 16-year-old Abbey Jankalski had never been on a Jet Ski. Heading out Saturday into North Point Creek on her uncle's Kawasaki, she was still, literally and figuratively, getting her feet wet. But with practice came confidence, so she stepped on the gas to see what the machine could do. And that's when Officer Gregory Jilek of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, patrolling the creek off Sparrows Point and the Chesapeake Bay,...

A 52-year-old Anne Arundel County man who was about to embark on a fishing trip with five other men died Saturday in a boating accident off Ocean City, police said. A 16-foot Wellcraft occupied by six people flipped over around 9:10 a.m., and the occupants were thrown into the water, said P.A. Thompsen, an officer with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources police. The accident occurred in the Ocean City Inlet, which intersects with the Atlantic Ocean and is known for having "turbulent waters," said Thompsen.

UPDATE, 3:18 P.M.: The Sun can confirm that the body found yesterday has been determined to be that of Phylicia Barnes, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation. UPDATE, 3:13 P.M.: Charlotte television station WBTV reporter Derrick Rose wrote on Twitter that Phylicia's father confirms that the body found yesterday is his daughter. We are awaiting confirmation from state police. Baltimore police have provided dental records of missing teenager Phylicia Barnes to the state medical examiner's office for comparison to a body pulled from the Susquehanna River, and a determination is expected this afternoon, an official told The Sun. An apparent tattoo located on a woman's body found north of the Conowingo Dam Wednesday has raised questions over whether the body is that of Barnes, WBAL-TV is reporting.

Two bodies were recovered Wednesday from the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam, a Maryland State Police spokesman said. Spokesman Gregory M. Shipley said police were investigating the remains of a man and a woman found several miles apart, but "beyond that, we have no connection" between the two deaths. Neither person had been identified Wednesday evening, and police continue to investigate the cause and manner of death. The bodies were taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for autopsies scheduled for Thursday.

Nine recreational anglers from out of state were charged with fishing for striped bass in protected waters during a weekend sting operation in the Choptank River south of Denton, just one week before the start of Maryland's spring season. Working on tips from the public, Natural Resources Police officers shot video of the alleged poachers fishing on known spawning grounds and intercepted them as they returned to shore at Ganeys Wharf. Police say one angler caught 20 striped bass.

Patriot delights in the scent of live people. Justice prefers them dead. And Blu goes bonkers at the smell of trout. In a world filled with a cornucopia of odors, each of the seven dogs of the Natural Resources Police K-9 force finds something that sets its nose twitching. These dogs track bad guys and lost kids, drowning victims and wandering Alzheimer patients, illegally taken wildlife and illicit guns. They tell humans to look here instead of there, saving precious time in situations where often every moment counts.

Natural Resources Police officers recovered another 1,500 yards of illegal fishing net containing 300 pounds of striped bass Wednesday night in Eastern Bay off Kent Island. This is the eighth time in three weeks that patrol boats dragging grappling hooks have snagged submerged nets. The total length of confiscated nets is 5.5 miles and the weight of the poached striped bass, also known as rockfish, is 12.6 tons. NRP Sgt. Art Windemuth said the latest nets had been in the water for some time because officers found decomposing mud shad in them along with live striped bass.

Natural Resources Police patrol boats Monday found two more illegal fishing nets in the waters south of Kent Island and seized another half-ton of striped bass. The agency also announced that the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the poachers who have netted more than 10 tons of fish has increased to $10,000. The first net was hauled out at 2 p.m. near Poplar Island. The 600-yard net, which officers estimated to be in the water since last year, contained "a couple of rockfish that were released alive and 200 to 300 horseshoe crabs," said Sgt. Art Windemuth, NRP spokesman.

ABOARD NRP 139 — The fight against striped bass poaching is being fought on the ice-covered deck of a small patrol boat being buffeted by three-foot waves and winds that make you shout to be heard. Natural Resources Police Officer First Class Drew Wilson drops a grappling hook over the side to begin the blind search for illegal fishing nets — mesh death traps — like the type that caught 10 tons of striped bass this week, fish that were destined for Maryland's black market and perhaps beyond.

For the second consecutive day, Natural Resources Police officers pulled illegal nets from the Chesapeake Bay Wednesday filled to the brim with striped bass. In total, they have seized 10 tons of illegally caught fish, the largest haul of its type since the end of the rockfish moratorium more than two decades ago. After detecting poachers' nets Monday night, patrol boats with grappling hooks snagged nets near Bloody Point at the southern tip of Kent Island Tuesday morning, Tuesday night and again Wednesday afternoon.