Officials call off search for boater reported missing off Magic Island
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Officials late last night called off a search in waters off Magic Island for a woman who reportedly went missing after an inflatable boat capsized in the area.
The search was called off at 11:45 p.m.
Fire Department Capt. Terry Seelig said a man who reported the incident gave varying accounts of what happened and that his story contained discrepancies.
The search will not resume unless authorites get new information, he said.
"His information was confusing at best and kept changing," Seelig said. Officials were not sure there indeed was a missing person, he said.
Earlier last night, officials said they received reports that a man and a woman were in an inflatable boat and were heading back to shore when the boat ran into an object and capsized.
The man, who suffered bruises, made it to shore and reported the woman missing following the 9:15 p.m. mishap. The Fire Department was called at 9:45 p.m.
The boat was found at 10:05 p.m. in the lagoon at the end of Magic Island. The woman, in her 40s, was not wearing a floatation vest, the man said. Officials were focusing their search outside the breakwater at the end of Magic Island.