The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 27-year-old fisherman believed to have fallen overboard Sunday morning, but his family and friends are continuing the search for his remains.
“My brother’s gone. He would never just disappear like this. … I just want to bring some closure to my family,” said Amy Meats, the older sister of the missing man Arnold Skeek. Meats flew down from Kake with other members of her family Sunday evening to join the Coast Guard’s search party for her brother after a report came in that he was missing from the vessel.
Meats said the captain aboard the Beaufort Sea vessel last saw her brother sleeping around 6 a.m., then around 11 a.m. the crew realized he was missing and called for help. The vessel was anchored half a mile away from the harbor in Auke Bay where Skeek was working.
The Coast Guard began their search shortly after the call was made using two Coast Guard cutters, with Cutter Maple able to stay overnight so that the search could continue without interruption, Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said. The searched was suspended at approximately 1:30 p.m. Monday.
A helicopter out of Sitka also assisted the Coast Guard Monday morning before the search was suspended, and Rios said the Auke Bay area where Skeek is believed to have fallen over was saturated with the Coast Guard search party before the decision to suspend was made. He said the fact that Skeek was not actually seen falling over did not play into the decision to suspend the search approximately 24 hours after it began.
“We treat every case seriously and we respond to every case as per what was reported,” Rios said, adding that this case was treated as a man overboard incident the entire time. “We search, and we search a lot. … There comes a time in every search when you have to suspend.”
Rios said the Coast Guard’s search party was not able to find any clues, such as clothing, that might lead them to believe Skeek was in the area. Skeek is now considered a “missing person,” Rios said.
Meats said she is certain if her brother is found, he will be dead. She said his cellphone and other personal belongings were still aboard the Beaufort, making it clear to her that he fell overboard, although nobody saw it happen. She said she is grateful for those continuing to search for her brother because her family desperately needs the closure right now.
“He’s got an 8-year-old son who could definitely use that closure,” Meats said. “This year has been brutal. We lost our mother and grandmother. … Now Arnold’s gone.”
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
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