MERCER ISLAND — The Port Angeles Coast Guard’s HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew helped search for a missing kayaker in Lake Washington on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound offered assistance to the Mercer Island police, who had initialized the rescue effort.
Witnesses reported seeing a kayak flip Saturday evening and being unable to spot the kayaker, Cmdr. Leslie Burns of the Mercer Island police told KOMO TV.
A kayak was later found adrift.
Mercer Island rescue crews arrived on scene and reported a partially submerged kayak in Lake Washington on the east side of Mercer Island, approximately 400 yards south of the Interstate 90 bridge.
Mercer Island police then identified a craft that was later traced to a missing kayaker.
The helicopter was launched from Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles at about 5:45 p.m. and searched until dark, when a Coast Guard Station Seattle boat took over for the night.
The helicopter took off again at daybreak and searched until early afternoon, when the search was called off, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Nate Littlejohn.
The kayaker’s name was not released pending notification of family, Littlejohn said.
Searchers were focused on a channel between Bellevue and Mercer Island Saturday night, but surging waves and gusty winds thwarted their efforts, The Associated Press reported.
