Alaska News

Coast Guard suspends search for man missing near Togiak

BRISTOL BAY -- The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a commercial fisherman who reportedly fell overboard Friday night near Anchor Point in Togiak Bay.

The Coast Guard says 31-year-old Benjamin Symmes, of Montana, disappeared from the 28-foot seine boat Miss Colleen around 9:45 p.m. Friday.

A Coast Guard helicopter and a fixed-wing plane from Air Station Kodiak flew to the bay on Friday night to join the crew of Miss Colleen, based in Anacortes, Wash., and about 10 good Samaritan vessels, in an overnight search for Symmes.

The Coast Guard said it resumed the search for Symmes at 8 a.m. Saturday but suspended it at 5:20 p.m. The search lasted about 16 hours and covered more than 300 square miles, according to a Coast Guard press release.

Weather in the area on Saturday was mostly cloudy and seas were at about seven feet.

Anchorage Daily News / adn.com

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