Fisherman’s body recovered from shipwreck

CAPE MAY - A private dive team has recovered the body of a fisherman from the wreck of the Lady Mary, a scallop trawler that sank March 24 about 65 miles off the Jersey Shore, killing all but one of the seven men onboard, the Coast Guard said today.

The Coast Guard said it was notified about 8 p.m. Tuesday that the body of Bernie "Tarzan" Smith, 59, of Wildwood was found in the 71-foot trawler's fish hold about 210 feet down.

Smith, the brother of the boat's owner, Royal Smith Sr. - who also lost two sons in the sinking - was found wearing socks, pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. He was near a Neoprene survival suit, indicating to the divers that he may have not had time to put it on before the boat sank.

The lone survivor, Jose Luis Arias, 58, of Wildwood, testified last week before a panel of Coast Guard investigators that the Lady Mary went down fast in the pitch darkness around 5 a.m.

Arias, and the bodies of Royal "Bobo" Smith Jr. and his brother Timothy Smith, were pulled from the sea by a Coast Huard rescue team that morning. But the rest of the crew, which included Bernie Smith and three other men, had not been located.

Stephenson Weeks, a Beaufort, N.C., lawyer representing Royal Smith Sr., said his client was certain that his brother was dead, but that finding the body was a "relief" for the family and is helping them cope with the tragedy.

Weeks said the eight-man dive team also found and photographed "extensive" damage to the boat's stern, supporting his client's contention that the Lady Mary may have been hit by a passing boat or ship.

Since the investigation is ongoing, the Coast Guard declined to comment on the damage.

The commercial dive team, which volunteered its services to the family, spent nearly 16 hours Tuesday traveling to and from the site and making the dive. Its members returned to Cape May around 7 p.m. Tuesday with the body.

Royal Smith Sr. was able to make a preliminary identification of his brother's body by telephone by the description given to him - white mustache and sideburns, Weeks said.

The Coast Guard said an autopsy performed today confirmed the identity.

Weeks said the divers didn't have time to explore the entire boat on Tuesday and planmed to return to the site of the shipwreck to see if they can find the bodyies of additional crew members.