Coast Guard: Two survivors rescued; search continues for woman missing in water near Portsmouth Island

Published 5:09 pm Sunday, October 10, 2021

: File photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard Mid-Atlantic

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The Coast Guard reported Sunday evening that crews are continuing to search for a 27-year-old woman in the vicinity of Portsmouth Island in Ocracoke Inlet.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center received a report via 911 at approximately 4:15 p.m. Saturday of a capsized canoe with two people aboard, according to a Coast Guard press release. Watchstanders subsequently lost communication with the reporting source, who was a member of the same group.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City launched to search for the people in the water. A 24-foot shallow water special purpose craft boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet was also launched.

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The Jayhawk helicopter aircrew located a conscious male survivor alongside a green canoe approximately 2.8 miles offshore of Drum Inlet at approximately 9:54 a.m. Sunday. The survivor was hoisted into the aircraft and transported to Carteret Hospital in Morehead City.

A second survivor, who was identified as the original reporting source, was found ashore on Great Island by a good Samaritan. The survivor reported swimming to shore, last seeing the missing woman in the early morning hours of Sunday.

According to the Coast Guard’s Sunday evening release, searching are an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, a 24-foot shallow water special purpose craft boatcrew and a 47-foot Motor Life Boat boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet, a 47-foot Motor Life Boat boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Fort Macon and Coast Guard Cutter Seahawk, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat.

The Coast Guard’s original statement late Saturday night stated that Hyde County Sheriff’s Department, North Carolina Wildlife and North Carolina Park Services were also involved in the search.

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