COUPEVILLE — The Coast Guard suspended a search for a man who went overboard on the MV Kennewick near Whidbey Island.
Security tapes showed a man going overboard the ferry at 9:22 p.m. Thursday, eight minutes after departure from Whidbey Island.
The search was called off Friday afternoon.
Officials believe the man is an 81-year-old from Poulsbo whose name was not released. He was last seen wearing a T-shirt and light-colored pants.
Coast Guard air and boat crews and local agencies searched the area near Whidbey Island for about 12 hours, covering a 300-mile radius.
When the ferry debarked in Port Townsend, security found a vehicle abandoned aboard the ferry with a man’s wallet and a suicide note inside, according to the Coast Guard.
Assisting in the search were Coast Guard cutter Osprey crew members, a Coast Guard Station Port Angeles boat crew, a Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles air crew, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island personnel and a crew with East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound at 206-217-6001.
Special training
PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend Police Department Detective Luke Bogues was one of 18 drug recognition experts in the state who attended national impaired-driving training in Colorado.
Bogues was selected to attend the 22nd annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Training Conference on Drugs, Alcohol and Impaired Driving in Denver on Aug. 13-15.
He has been a DUI detection and apprehension instructor since 2010, trains officers around the state and teaches police recruits at the state Criminal Justice Training Commission and State Patrol academies, the police department said in a news release.
This year’s conference theme was legal recreational cannabis. Presentations covered the validity and reliability of sobriety tests applied to drugs, including cannabis impairment.
The three-day conference in Denver was funded through a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission at no expense to the Port Townsend Police Department.
“Having a subject matter expert like Bogues is not typical at most small police agencies,” Police Chief Michael Evans said, “but his knowledge and experience is invaluable to the community and region.”
Evans said Bogues has been called upon to assist with DUI and motor vehicle collision fatality investigations in Jefferson, Clallam, Kitsap and Mason counties.
