OAK HARBOR, Whidbey Island — A 33-year-old sailor from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is presumed dead after his boat broke apart on the east side of the island on Saturday.
A Coast Guard search began after the incident was reported at 1:40 p.m. By late Saturday, the sailor — who was not identified — was still missing, and at 10 p.m. the search was suspended after more than eight hours of searching by Coast Guard and Navy crews and local responders.
“The decision to suspend a search is the most difficult decision to make as a responder,” said Coast Guard Capt. Sean Cross, chief of incident management, in Seattle.
“Our condolences go out the family, friends and shipmates of this young sailor.”
A woman aboard the boat swam ashore at Crescent Harbor to report him missing.
The Coast Guard launched a rescue boat from Seattle and a helicopter out of the Coast Guard base in Port Angeles to search the area.
An aircrew aboard a Seahawk helicopter from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island also joined the search, along with responders from the Island County Sheriff’s Office and local fire departments. Another Coast Guard patrol boat out of Bellingham arrived at 4 p.m. to join the search. Sailors from the missing sailor’s unit combed the beaches of Whidbey Island.
Coast Guard spokesman Levi Read had no information about how the boat had broken apart.
