JUNEAU, Alaska — The Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing mariner in Bristol Bay, near Ugashik, Saturday.
Response crews covered more than 8,000 square miles, an area approximately the size of New Jersey, during the 54-hour search for Roland Briggs, after receiving a report from his family Thursday morning that he failed to return from a trip from Egegik.
Coast Guard units involved in the search included multiple HC-130 Hercules airplane crews and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, the Coast Guard Cutter Munro, and the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter deployed aboard the Munro. Good Samaritans also assisted in the search using a small aircraft and vessels in the immediate area.
"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr. Briggs, making the decision to suspend a search is never easy for a search and rescue mission coordinator," said Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Buchmiller, an operations specialist at the Coast Guard 17th District command center. “We are grateful for the gracious hospitality of the Pilot Point community, who assisted our MH-65 crew while they landed at the airfield for repairs.”
Read the initial release here.