Coast Guard searching for Oregon boater missing in Southeast Alaska

The Coast Guard is searching for a 21-year-old Oregon man who went missing while boating near Yakobi Island in southeast Alaska on Thursday. The man, Gus McConnell, was following a larger boat to the Tlingit community of Hoonah in a 16-foot white and blue skiff. Around noon Thursday, the operator of the larger boat looked back for him, and found that the skiff had disappeared from sight, said Petty Officer Third Class Diana Honings, a Coast Guard spokeswoman. At 8 p.m., eight hours later, the Coast Guard was notified, Honings said. Command center watchstanders in Juneau issued an urgent marine broadcast and launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from the Coast Guard's Sitka air station to search the surrounding area. As of about 8 a.m. Friday, neither McConnell nor the skiff had been found. Honings said McConnell had been fishing throughout the day and the boats were returning back to the harbor. He was unfamiliar with the local waters, she said. “It’s possible he may have taken a wrong turn through one of the inlets,” she said. McConnell was last seen wearing blue jeans, boots and an Oregon sweatshirt. Anyone with information about McConnell’s whereabouts should contact Coast Guard Sector Juneau at 907-463-2990. Contact Devin Kelly at dkelly@adn.com, Google+ or Twitter