Long Valley Native, Maryland Cop Dies in Plane Crash

A Long Valley native and Ocean City, Md., police officer is one of two men who perished in a plane crash Sunday afternoon, according to Maryland State Police. 

Joshua D. Adickes, 27, of Berlin, Md. – formerly of Long Valley – along with Thomas J. Geoghegan Jr., 43, were both officers with the Ocean City Police Department who died when the small plane they were flying in crashed into the ocean about a half-mile off the shore, police said.

The Nanchang CJ-6A aircraft the two were flying in Sunday was owned by Goeghegan, and investigators believe he was piloting the plane with Adickes sitting behind him in the only passenger seat available on the aircraft, police said. 

Preliminary information indicates the plane took off from the Ocean City Airport between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m., police reported. The destination was not known.

A search for the bodies began late Sunday afternoon by the Maryland State Police and Natural Resources Police and was suspended at 9 p.m. due to poor conditions. The first body was found just after noon Monday, and the second about an hour later.

The plane was found about 30-feet below the ocean surface, a quarter-mile off the beach from 130th Street, police said. Diving operations were suspended around 1:15 p.m. Monday due to dangerous conditions.

Joshua D. Adickes, 27, graduated from West Morris Central High School in 2004.

A statement posted on the Ocean City Police department's blog read:

It is with great sadness that the Ocean City Police Department confirms that two of our police officers were the victims in yesterday’s plane crash in Ocean City. Both officers were very dedicated and courageous both on and off duty. Their love of life was clearly demonstrated in their professional and personal pursuits. They exemplified the finest character and their passing is a tremendous loss to the Ocean City Police Department family.