MUKILTEO — A Mukilteo man went missing Thursday while crabbing in the waters north of the city.
Frank Urbick, 65, launched his boat from the 10th Street dock in Everett around sunrise, with a possible target of Mission Beach near the Tulalip Reservation, said Molly Cimball, a family friend.
The U.S. Coast Guard was alerted that he had not returned as scheduled in the afternoon, said Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read. Urbick was alone on the vessel.
A cellphone ping led a Coast Guard helicopter to find his 18-foot boat washed ashore on the southwest corner of Hat Island, west of Everett. His wallet, empty crab pots and personal belongings were discovered aboard the cream-colored boat.
Two Coast Guard cutters and the Port Angeles-based helicopter searched through Thursday night, but could not find the missing man on the island or the water. The search continued Friday. It was suspended after 29 hours, the petty officer said.
Local fire departments and tribes had helped to look.
Urbick, a lifelong resident of Snohomish County, goes crabbing a few times a week, Cimball said. He’s not a commercial fisherman, but he’s described as “very, very experienced.” His sonar fish finder was being examined Friday, to see if it could turn up evidence of where he’d gone.
Puget Sound waters were about 48 degrees this week. The Coast Guard stressed that even calm waters can be dangerous.
Urbick’s family urged any crabbers or others who saw him Thursday to call 911. They want to know if someone tipped him off about a place where the crabbing would be good.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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