First responders searched for an overdue boater Monday night, only to learn that the man had returned home independently.
Just after 10 p.m. on Monday, the Sitka Fire Department received a call about a boater in Sitka Sound who was two hours overdue. Fire department engineer Zach Carlson said the department reached out to Coast Guard Sector Southeast to conduct a helicopter search for the boater, who was reportedly traveling in a ten-foot rubber inflatable raft. He said fire department staff were able to reach a friend of the boater, who reported that the boater had been in “good spirits” when they last spoke at 8:45 p.m.
Coast Guard Air Station Sitka spokesperson Chantz Black said the helicopter was deployed just before midnight, and the crew searched Sitka Sound for an hour and a half without seeing any sign of the boater.
Carlson said the missing person returned to his residence independently before 1 a.m. No further information about the boater was available.
