Maryland Police Spent $76,000 Searching for Publisher Philip Merrill

Posted Wednesday, August 2, 2006 12:00 am

By: Maryland Natural Resources police have released their final criminal report in the June death of Philip Merrill -- the prominent publisher and former diplomat whose body was found in the Chesapeake Bay after a nine-day search.

The report says Merrill purchased a shotgun June 3 -- the day before he hosted a party attended by hundreds of friends, including Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Merrill disappeared while sailing June 10. His body was found June 19 in the water near Poplar Island. The medical examiner's office said last month that Merrill committed suicide and died of a shotgun wound to the head.

Merrill was chairman of the board of Annapolis-based Capital-Gazette Communications.

Documents released Tuesday show Natural Resources Police spent $76,000 on salaries and fuel during the search. The figure does not include costs incurred by other agencies, including the Coast Guard.

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Maryland Police Spent $76,000 Searching for Publisher Philip Merrill

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