BOSTON — The Coast Guard has suspended the active search at 1:13 p.m., Wednesday, pending further developments, for an overdue kayaker in the vicinity of West Island near Fairhaven, Mass.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole, Mass., received a report of an overdue 21-year-old male, Dana Dourdeville, at approximately 7:45 p.m., Tuesday.
Searching were crews from:
- Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.
- Coast Guard Station Woods Hole, Mass.
- Coast Guard Station Cape Cod Canal, Mass.
- Coast Guard Station Menemsha, Mass.
- Massachusetts State Police
- New Bedford, Mass. Police Department
- Fairhaven, Mass. Police Department
- Mattapoisett, Mass. Police Department
Dourdeville left his home at approximately 2 p.m., Tuesday to go kayaking and duck hunting in the vicinity of West Island and was scheduled to return home by approximately 5:30 p.m. Dourdeville was reported to be in a 9-foot red kayak.
Fairhaven police officers located Dourdeville’s vehicle in a parking lot near West Island Beach.
An Air Station Cape Cod MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew located a red kayak northeast of West Island at approximately 10:45 p.m., Tuesday with no other sign of Dourdeville.
Coast Guard boat crews remained searching through the night, and Air Station Cape Cod helicopter crews resumed the search at first light.
The 17-hour search covered an area of 328 square nautical miles.
