NEAH BAY — A man who went missing after being swept away by a wave at Cape Flattery has been identified as Joshua L. Monette, a promising 2015 Neah Bay High School graduate and a second-year student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.
Coast Guard and Neah Bay Department of Public Safety personnel were unsuccessful in their search for a man who was on shoreline rocks at Hole in the Wall near Tatoosh Island on Sunday afternoon when he was pulled into the Strait of Juan de Fuca’s 10-foot to 11-foot waves, said Jasper Bruner, tribal Director of public safety, on Tuesday.
Bruner did not identify the man pending notification of kin.
“The Dartmouth,” the Ivy League school’s daily student newspaper, reported Monday that Monette had been reported missing Sunday from Cape Flattery.
A family member of Monette’s notified the college that Monette was missing and that authorities were searching for him, according to the newspaper.
A family acquaintance who said her niece’s best friend is Monette’s girlfriend emailed the Peninsula Daily News for updates on the search.
“We are all heartbroken,” Eden Greer said in an email.
The Coast Guard suspended its search Monday morning, a Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound spokesman said Monday.
Bruner said Tuesday morning that Neah Bay Fire Department personnel would not conduct their search for Monette beyond Tuesday afternoon.
Monette had been hiking with a male companion along the shoreline when the wave hit, Bruner said. Bruner declined to identify the man.
Monette’s backpack was later found floating in the water.
A Neah Bay Middle School student, he qualified for the All American Soap Box Derby World Championships two years in a row.
While at Neah Bay High School, he was a linebacker on the Red Devils’ state Class 1B championship football teams in 2013 and 2014.
He also was a tribal carving apprentice in high school and took part in the annual Canoe Journey.
Monette was class historian of his 2015 Neah Bay High School graduating class of 25 students and spoke at the graduation.
He is in Dartmouth’s Class of 2019.
Founded in 1789, the school’s acceptance rate is about 10 percent of applicants.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
