OAK HARBOR — The Coast Guard late Saturday suspended the search for a U.S. Navy sailor missing in Crescent Harbor on the east side of Whidbey Island. The sailor, 33, was assigned to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. He went missing after his boat broke apart in Crescent Harbor on Saturday afternoon, officials said.
A watchstander at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle received a report of one person in the water at 1:40 p.m. A woman aboard the boat swam ashore and reported the incident and the missing sailor. The watchstander immediately directed the diversion of a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles and directed the launch of a rescue crew aboard a 45-foot response boat from Station Seattle. The Coast Guard Cutter Sea Lion, an 87-foot patrol boat home-ported in Bellingham, joined the search at 4 p.m. “The Coast Guard was on scene within moments after we were notified,” Lt. John McKenzie, chief duty officer, Sector Puget Sound, said in a press release. “Our dedicated crews will continue to search as long as there is a possibility of survival.”
An aircrew aboard a SH-60 Seahawk helicopter from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island also searched but stopped the search at about 5 p.m. Local responders from Island County Sherriff’s and firefighters also aided in the search.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.