NRP Recovers Body of Florida Man in Back Creek

Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) officers recovered the body of a man Tuesday morning in Back Creek.

The victim, Kenneth Scott McKiel, 41, of Key West, Fl., who lived aboard a sailboat, was found at about 7:20 a.m. floating in the water near the dead end of 6^th Street in Annapolis.

McKiel had been drinking on board a friend’s sailboat on the evening of Thursday, October 1. Just after midnight, McKiel set out in the heavy fog and rain to his boat.

His friend said he watched McKiel paddle in the kayak until he lost sight of him, and assumed he returned to his vessel safely.  After not hearing from McKiel for several days, his friend called in a missing person report. NRP officers found his body after a quick canvas of the area.

McKiel was not wearing a lifejacket and no foul play is suspected. The body was transported to the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.