COYLE — Jefferson County authorities were waiting Sunday for relatives to confirm the identity of a 51-year-old Silverdale man found dead in Hood Canal.
The man was the focus of a search by the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department that started Saturday when he was reported overdue from a fishing trip.
A Naval Base Kitsap search-and-rescue boat, an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles, and the Coast Guard’s Everett-based 87-foot patrol boat Blue Shark joined in the search.
The helicopter crew located the man’s 16-foot skiff on the eastern shore of the Toandos Peninsula across Hood Canal from Naval Base Kitsap on Saturday night but found no trace of the man.
The helicopter crew located a body floating a quarter mile south of the skiff at 7:44 a.m. Sunday.
Jefferson County deputies recovered the body and are investigating the cause of the man’s death.