PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a missing 27-year-old kayaker who went missing near Lynnhaven Inlet early Tuesday morning.
Coast Guard and local partner agencies searched for two days, covering more than 1,873 square miles.
Coast Guard watchstanders received a notification Tuesday at 10 a.m. reporting Ryan Tew, 27, last seen leaving Crab Creek in Lynnhaven Inlet around 11:30 p.m. Monday in a red single-person kayak. Tew was expected to return around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Search crews located the kayak Tuesday afternoon approximately 4 miles east of 65th Street in Virginia Beach.
“After exhaustively combing the search area with multiple air and on-water crews, we made the difficult decision to suspend our search for this missing kayaker,” said Capt. Jennifer Stockwell, Coast Guard Sector Virginia commander. “We would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Mr. Tew.”
Rescue crews that searched:
- Two Coast Guard Station Little Creek 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boats
- Two Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters
- Two Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130 Hercules airplanes
- Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fritch crew
- Coast Guard Cutter Seahawk crew
- Virginia Marine Resources Commission
- Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Police Department
- Virginia Beach Police Department
- Virginia Beach Fire Department
- Virginia Emergency Medical Service
- Port of Virginia
- Department of Wildlife Resources
- Three U.S. Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field HSC-28 squadron MH-60 Seahawk helicopters
- False Cape State Park Rangers
For more news follow us on Twitter and Facebook. For recent photographs follow us on Flickr.
