Search suspended for missing boater near Waldport

The search was called off Friday due to reduced visibility

(Astoria, Oregon) - The Coast Guard and local authorities have suspended the search for a boater who went missing Friday after his 14-foot boat capsized approximately one mile offshore near Waldport, Ore.

The search was suspended at 1:20 p.m. Saturday after the Coast Guard and local authorities searched for the boater throughout Friday night and Saturday.

Coast Guard Group North Bend, Ore., received a report at 7:36 p.m. Friday of a capsized boat with two people onboard. One had been rescued by a Good Samaritan in a kayak, while the second person was missing.

The two boaters were both initially pulled from the water by the kayaker at approximately 7:28 p.m. Moments later the kayak flipped over tossing all three into the water. Only the kayaker and the female boater were able to make it back into the kayak.

A 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Station Yaquina Bay, Ore., an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station North Bend and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Facility Newport, Ore., were launched to search. A Coast Guard mobile unit, along with the Waldport Fire Department and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, assisted in the search from shore.

At 11:30 p.m. the search was called off Friday due to reduced visibility. The Coast Guard and local authorities resumed the search Saturday with shore and air crews.

The female boater was transported to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport were she was treated for hypothermia.