'They Probably Died For Each Other': Missing Hunters

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ANNAPOLIS, MD — Online fundraisers have been created to help the families of two best friends who are presumed drowned after their boat sank on the Severn River when they were duck hunting.

Maryland Natural Resources Police say the missing hunters are Earling Stephen Lamp, 23, of Stevensville and Matthew Davis, 23, of Glen Burnie. Authorities don’t believe the pair will be found alive. Lamp was married and leaves behind three young sons.

On Jan. 19, witnesses reported someone was in the water 100 yards from shore near Beach Road yelling for help; then a man went under and did not resurface.

A Coast Guard crew found debris matching the description of what the two men had aboard their 14-foot boat, and a Jon boat was pulled from the river a day after the accident.

Lamp and Davis were teammates on the Broadneck High School soccer team. A public memorial service for the friends is planned for Feb. 15 at Broadneck High School.

“They had tons of fun … they were inseparable,” Davis’ brother, Christopher, told The Capital-Gazette. “And they probably died for each other.”

By Thursday, $43, 271 had been donated on a GoFundMe site to help Lamp’s wife, Lynette, and the couple’s three young sons, all under the age of 5.

A post by the page’s creator, Annette Munroe, says of Lamp:

“Stephen Lamp was a great friend, brother, and loving husband to his high school sweetheart Lynnette. He was known by all as a fantastic father to their three young boys ages 5, 3 and 4 months. While we try to hold on to a little hope, Lynnette and the boys will need our support in many ways.

At just 23 this young family had it all but unfortunately life can change in an instant. This is the kind of story that will affect our community for a long time. We all want to do anything we can to help and this page is meant to allow us to start that in some small way.”

A similar page on GoFundMe set up in Davis’ name has raised $10,100 so far. Organizers say the donations will pay for a family memorial service for Davis.

GoFundMe pages:

Lamp family: www.gofundme.com/lampfamily

Davis family: www.gofundme.com/rakec55g

»Photo of rescue officials finding missing boat in search for hunters, courtesy of Maryland Natural Resources Police