Police continue search for missing boater

Published 3:02 pm Saturday, December 10, 2011

Searchers use a Suffolk police boat to search Lake Prince for a missing boater on Saturday afternoon.

 

Suffolk police and other agencies were expected to resume their search for a missing boater on Lake Prince at dawn today.

The man was reported missing Friday night when he did not return from his fishing trip when expected, city spokeswoman Debbie George said.

Email newsletter signup

The Hampton man, who is about 60 years old, went fishing Friday in his 17-foot Bass Tracker boat. When he did not return home after dark, his wife called a fishing buddy of his, George said.

The friend checked some of the spots where they typically fished and found the man’s truck and trailer at the boat ramp on Girl Scout Road, George said. The man tried to reach him by cell phone, then notified the U.S. Coast Guard when he did not receive an answer.

The Coast Guard notified Suffolk police about 8 p.m., George said.

Search teams found the man’s boat wedged under some low-hanging branches about 10 p.m. Friday night, George said. The throttle was in the on position, she said.

Teams from Suffolk Marine Patrol and Dive Team, the Coast Guard, Virginia Beach and Norfolk marine patrols, and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries searched from dawn until dark Saturday with no sign of the boater. George said they were using sonar to search under water.