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Coast Guard searches 6,000 square miles for missing fisherman

U.S. Coast Guard search for missing fisherman continues in deteriorating weather

Nov. 14, 2009

Devin Johnson

Devin Johnson

HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard continues a search for Devin Johnson, a 23-year-old fisherman last seen early Friday morning approximately 60 miles west of the Big Island.
Air crews aboard a Coast Guard C-130 long-range search plane and HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter were on scene at first light Saturday morning. The 18-member crew of the Hilo-based Coast Guard cutter Kiska has been on scene searching continuously since Friday afternoon.

Also searching today are air crews aboard a Navy P-3 Orion fixed-wing aircraft and SH-60 Seahawk rescue helicopter from the Navy’s HSL Squadron 37. Both aircraft are based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.

A search directed from the Coast Guard’s 24-hour Honolulu Harbor command center has covered more than 6,000 square miles — an area nearly 10 times the size of Oahu. Also on scene searching are friends and relatives aboard at least five private vessels.

Searchers on scene have reported deteriorating weather conditions with seas of 12 feet and winds from the southeast at 25 mph. Johnson was last seen wearing an olive green sweater and black shorts, but no life jacket.

Anyone with further information about the missing man is asked to contact the Coast Guard at 808-842-2600 or via VHF marine band radio channel 16 or the Hawaii Police Department on the Big Island.

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