NEAH BAY — The Coast Guard suspended its search at 5:30 p.m. today for a diver who went missing off Duncan Rock near Cape Flattery on Tuesday.
The search for Lynne Flaherty, 61, of Woodinville was suspended after crews aboard the Coast Guard cutter Swordfish and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Port Angeles and boatcrews aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat and 29-foot Response Boat-Small II from Station Neah Bay conducted 24 searches over more than 30 hours.
Flaherty, an experienced diver, started the dive Tuesday morning with her husband in 85 to 100 feet of water.
They were scheduled to resurface together at about 11:15 a.m.
She did not surface as scheduled, and her husband called for assistance at 11:25 a.m., according to the Coast Guard.
The crew of a 29-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Neah Bay began the search at 11:35 a.m.
Coast Guard crews searched more than 1,200 trackline miles and 290 square miles during search efforts.
Aircrew personnel from the Canadian Coast Guard assisted in the search.
“The decision to suspend a search is extremely difficult and our thoughts are with the missing person and her family at this time,” said Michael D. McKiernan, command duty officer at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.
The Coast Guard can resume an active search if credible information is received regarding the missing person’s whereabouts, the agency said.
The amount of time the Coast Guard will search for a missing person in the water depends on a lot of factors, said Petty Officer Levi Read, Coast Guard spokesman in Astoria, Ore.
Flaherty, a Professional Association of Diving Instructors master diver, had undertaken more than 1,200 dives, was wearing a dry suit and was equipped with a personal locator beacon and a radio.
Also the dive location was relatively close to land.
All of those factors increased her chances of survival in the cold Pacific Ocean waters, Read said.
