Coast Guard responds to 3 missing kayakers in Maine, 2 deceased
Jun 23rd, 2016
BOSTON — The Coast Guard, Marine Maine Patrol, and several good Samaritans searched for three missing kayakers west of Mount Desert Island, Maine, Wednesday. At about 6:30 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England in Portland received a report from a woman claiming her husband and two others went kayaking and did not return at 4:30 p.m. as planned.
A 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Southwest Harbor and a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod launched. The Marine Maine Patrol and several good Samaritans also joined the search.
At about 8 p.m., a good Samaritan located one of the kayakers clinging to the hull of an overturned kayak. She was reportedly hypothermic and unable to speak. The 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew transferred her from the good Samaritan boat to awaiting Emergency Medical Services at Prospect Harbor. She was then transported to Eastern Maine Medical in Bangor. Her condition is unknown at this time.
At about 8:38 p.m., a good Samaritan found the second kayaker who was unresponsive. They transferred him to paramedics at Prospect Harbor where he was later pronounced dead.
Around 9:50 p.m., another good Samaritan found the final kayaker who also unresponsive. He was transported to paramedics at Prospect Harbor where he was also pronounced dead.
“This is a very tragic outcome,” said Kenneth Stuart, the command duty officer at Sector North New England. “We deeply appreciate the efforts of those local boaters who assisted tonight and we’ll be working to determine what happened and how to prevent such accidents from occurring in the future.”