ANACORTES — A search was suspended late Wednesday afternoon for a boater missing near Anacortes.
The search for Dean Harvey, 48, of Bermerton, will be restarted if there are any new developments, said Petty Officer Katelyn Shearer, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Seattle.
A Port Angeles-based Coast Guard helicopter crew located an 18-foot boat belonging to Harvey on Wednesday morning, but he was not aboard.
The boat was found overturned and grounded on rocks.
“We have been searching for more than 24 hours now,” Shearer said Wednesday afternoon.
The search began Tuesday afternoon, when Harvey was reported overdue in stormy seas.
Robert Romero, Harvey’s brother, reported that they both left Anacortes at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in separate 18-foot fishing boats to go crabbing and agreed to return to Anacortes at 3:30 p.m.
Romero returned to Anacortes at 3:30 p.m. and waited for his brother to return until 4:30 p.m.
When he did not, Romero called Skagit County 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers to report him overdue.
The Adelie, an 87-foot patrol boat, and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, both from the Port Angeles Coast Guard station, along with helicopters from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and the San Juan Sheriff’s Office fireboat and teams from the U.S. Border Patrol, participated in the search Wednesday.
Shearer said a dive team also began a search in the area where Harvey was reported missing.
The overturned and grounded boat was found a few hundred yards southeast of Lopez Island, which is southwest of Anacortes, by the
Port Angeles-based helicopter at about 9 a.m. Wednesday.
It was towed to shore by the Adelie where it was confirmed that it was Harvey’s boat, Shearer said.
A Port Angeles Coast Guard helicopter completed a search of the area before returning to base Tuesday evening because of deteriorating weather conditions — heavy rain, 200 yards of visibility, 1- to 2-foot seas and 12 to 17 mph winds.
The weather improved Tuesday morning.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsula
dailynews.com.
