OAK HARBOR — The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a U.S. Navy sailor who went missing when his boat broke apart off Whidbey Island.
The 33-year-old sailor assigned to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island was in a fiberglass boat in Crescent Harbor, on the east side of the island, when it broke apart early Saturday afternoon. A woman who had been onboard was able to swim to shore and reported what happened.
The Coast Guard says it immediately sent a helicopter crew from Port Angeles and sent a 45-foot rescue boat as well as a cutter, and a Navy helicopter crew also responded as sailors from the man’s unit combed the beaches looking for him.
The search was called off by late Saturday night.
