The body of Irish American Mark Lennon has been found – as it emerged that the driver of the speedboat involved in the accident which killed him has a prior drug arrest.

The 30-year-old Lennon, son of Irish-born parents was killed on the Hudson River near the Tappan Zee bridge on Friday night along with bride-to-be Lindsey Stewart, just a fortnight before she was due to marry his best friend Brian Bond.

The body of the popular Lennon, whose parents, Kevin and Dympna, are both from County Longford, was spotted by a jet skier on Sunday morning, about a mile from the crash scene.

His father, emigrated from Longford in the 1970s. They have one other son, Raymond.

Best Man Lennon and Stewart were thrown from the boat when it struck a construction barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge, 25 miles from New York.

Husband to be Bond and three others survived the horror crash which left two other passengers injured. They have yet to be named as police say they may be witnesses to a crime.

Officers have comforted the Lennon family after the discovery of Mark’s body.

Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said: “The Lennon family is distraught and devastated, like any family would be.

“Nothing but time will heal this and I don’t think it will ever be forgotten.”

Police have revealed that the boat’s skipper Jojo John, 35 of Nyack, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter. Officers say he was intoxicated according to the New York Daily News.

The paper says the Rockland County Sheriff also released a mugshot of John from a previous drug-related arrest but would not elaborate on the nature of the prior charges.

Stewart and Bond were regular worshippers at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Pearl River, N.Y.

Friends and family prayed for them at a service there on Sunday when Pastor John Havrilla urged attendees to pray for their families.

Havrilla said: “God has called us here today to be a praying community for two beautiful young people whose lives were filled with hopes and dreams. And that has been snuffed.

“The couple had recently shared a story about a recent retreat to Wildwood, N.J., where they planned their wedding.

“It was an especially happy time in their lives. They were delightfully, incredibly happy. Lindsey in particular, she was a sweetheart.”

Church goer Dorothy Mordeci said the congregation would pray for the families.

She said: “It’s devastating. It makes you think of your own kids. You’re thankful your kids are okay. We have to pray for Brian’s healing now.”