Search For Missing Boater Suspended: Sheriff

GIG HARBOR, WA - Search and rescue officials on Sunday called off efforts to find a man who on Friday went missing in the water near Purdy Spit Bridge and Burley Lagoon. The unidentified man was one of three who were in a row boat that capsized around 6:30 p.m. Dec. 28. The two other men in the boat successfully swam to shore.

The three men reportedly reside on two anchored sailboats in the area. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the men took a rowboat to shore to shop for supplies. Afterward, on their way out, large waves began spilling over the side, filling and eventually submerging the small vessel.

All three men held onto the capsized rowboat for a time, but two of them let go when they saw they were drifting away from their anchored homes. The two men who let go swam to shore and later told police they saw their companion, a 24-year-old, hanging on until both he and the rowboat disappeared underwater.

None of the men wore life jackets, sheriff's officials said.

A massive search and rescue effort involving half a dozen agencies, including the United States Coast Guard helicopter and rescue units from Tacoma, West Pierce Fire, Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor Fire, spent the night and next day looking for the missing boater, but he was never found.

The rowboat was later found overturned in the lagoon, officials said.

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Image via Pierce County Sheriff's Office