The Coast Guard suspended the search for a 20-year-old man overdue from an 18-foot skiff near Hydaburg, Alaska, on June 24.
A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, the crews of the Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick and Anacapa, and multiple Hydaburg search-and-rescue (SAR) boat crews searched more than 40 hours for Frances Charles after he did not return from a fish camp in Eek Point, on June 22.
Coast Guard Sector Juneau Command Center watchstanders received a request for assistance from Hydaburg SAR personnel Thursday evening (June 22). They reported the skiff was found near California Island and one of their boat crews located a pair of boots in the water near the beach at Round Point on Blanket Island. Watchstanders requested the launch of the Jayhawk crew and the diversion of the cutter crews. An Urgent Marine Information Broadcast was issued.
“Coast Guard search-and-rescue crews covered more than 180 square miles in their attempt to find Charles,” said Nicholas Meyer, a Sector Juneau command duty officer.
“We search for every missing person as if we were searching for our own,” said Capt Shannan Greene. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends.”
