The Coast Guard suspended its search for an overdue boater near Kake on Saturday evening (6-17-23).
Seventy-year old Timothy Wilson, Jr., of Kake was last seen Friday morning leaving for a fishing trip near Pup Island.
According to a press release, the Coast Guard in Juneau received a report from Alaska State Troopers at 8:30 pm Friday (6-16-23) of an overdue boater in a 15-foot aluminum skiff.
The Coast Guard used a cell phone ping to identify a last known position near Payne Island, but at around 6 am Saturday morning, Wrangell Search and Rescue spotted the Lund skiff tied to a small rock some distance away, about 13 miles northwest of Kake. Searchers used the skiff’s GPS data to adjust the search area.
Several Coast Guard crews; state troopers; search-and-rescue teams from Kake, Angoon, and Wrangell; and good samaritan vessels joined a search effort that lasted nearly 16 hours and covered more than 377 square nautical miles. The search was suspended at sunset on Saturday.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to Mr. Wilson’s loved ones,” said Coast Guard Commander Raymond Reichl in a press release. “The decision to suspend an active search is never easy and is only done after exhaustive efforts to find the missing person.”
The Coast Guard asks anyone with new information to call the Juneau command center at 907-463-2980.
