Two fishermen missing over a week after boat vanishes off WA coast, officials say
UPDATE: One man was found floating in a raft Oct. 26, about 70 miles from Cape Flattery, Washington, the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The original story is below.
Two men have been missing for 10 days after leaving on a fishing boat from the Washington coastline, officials said.
The passengers set out on a 43-foot wooden hull boat Oct. 12 from Westport, the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest posted Oct. 24 on Twitter, now rebranded as X, and Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said in an email to McClatchy News.
They were supposed to return from their fishing trip Oct. 15 but never did, Strohmaier said. A cellphone signal was pinged from one of the men’s phones on Oct. 12, when they were last heard from.
A woman then reported her father missing, prompting search efforts Oct. 22, Strohmaier said.
Rescuers searched for the missing boat and men, covering over 14,000 square miles in eight hours, officials said.
Strohmaier said the search included areas off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, south to Newport, Oregon.
Rescuers also scanned the ocean from aircrafts “in an east to west area of about 100-miles offshore of the Oregon, Washington, and SW Vancouver Island coast,” he said.
Neither the boat nor the passengers have been found, officials said.
Now search efforts have been halted until officials get new information.
“Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of the missing people during this difficult time,” officials said.
Anyone with information about the missing boat can contact the U.S. Coast Guard at 206-220-7001.
Grays Harbor County is on the Olympic Peninsula in the southwestern part, and it sits along the Pacific Ocean.
Westport is about 100 miles southwest of Tacoma.
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Two fishermen missing over a week after boat vanishes off WA coast, officials say."
