Coast Guard officials Tuesday night suspended their search for 52-year-old Paul Keithahn of Juneau who may have fallen overboard from his pleasure craft just outside of Auke Bay.
A Coast Guard small rescue boat, the cutter Liberty, an H-60 helicopter from Sitka, SEADOGS, and Alaska State Troopers covered a total of 190 square miles during 32 hours of searching on Monday and Tuesday. The Coast Guard reports that search efforts concentrated in the area of Coghlan Island. Searchers did not find any sign of Keithahn.
About midday Monday, a Good Samaritan vessel spotted the 32-foot vessel Spellbound with no one on board running in circles at slow speed about three-quarters of a mile west of Point Louisa. Only Keithahn’s cell phone was found on board the boat. Coast Guard officials then initiated a search in the area.
