OLD SAYBROOK - Friends and family are mourning the death of an 18-year old who went fishing last week and never returned.
His body was found Tuesday near the mouth of the Connecticut River.
Zadrozny's friends set up a GoFundMe page. If you are interested in helping them out, click here. As of Wednesday morning, they had raised $12,000. Their goal had been $10,000.
The loss of Billy Zadrozny has been very tough on the community. A vigil was held at Saybrook Point and everyone who attended wore shirts that said #somewhereonthewater, a line that was Zadrozny's biography on his Instagram.
Vincent Tino played Little League baseball with Zadrozny and will never forget the memories they shared out on the field.
"He was an avid fisherman. From what I’ve heard, he was one of the best anyone’s ever seen so he used to always love being out on the water. It’s one of his favorite things to do," said Tino of Clinton.
Another one of Billy's close friends, Kelsey Lebert, said he was very popular and was known as a spunky adventure-chaser.
"Billy was the most outgoing and confident person that I knew. He was just the person who got everybody together and got people to come out of their shell and he got people to go out and do the things they were scared to do. He really was an important part of our community," said Lebert of Clinton.
The night Zadrozy's empty kayak was found took a toll on those who knew him. That same kayak was seen in his last Snapchat video.
"My heart dropped. I didn’t really expect that to happen. I didn’t think of anything. I just couldn’t really imagine," said Mariah Spada of Middletown.
His car was found at a boat launch at North Cove Road and was last seen at the mouth of the Connecticut River.
“There are so many variables between time of year, sea or water conditions, it all depends, we’ve had recoveries the same day, we’ve had recoveries years later it falls anywhere in between, it's really quite a variable that is hard to predict," said Sgt. Steve Stanko with the Department of Energy and Environment Protection.
The search for Zadrozny was suspended the day after he was found missing. It was until Tuesday morning when a fisherman found a body who was identified as Billy Zadrozny through the tattoos on his body.
"He's here now. He's not out there anymore," added Lebert.