The search continues for a boater who didn’t return to Port Burwell when expected Tuesday
PORT BURWELL – The search continues for a boater who didn’t return to shore here as expected Tuesday night, prompting a massive air and water effort that included police, firefighters, citizens and Coast Guard crews from both sides of the border.
Big Otter Marina officials asked all Lake Erie boaters to keep an eye out for a 21-foot Striper motor boat on Wednesday.
“Fisherman has been missing since (Tuesday) night. Coast Guard could not locate. Assume his boat has no power so he has no lights,” officials with the marina wrote on Facebook.
The boater left a marina around 2 pm Tuesday and was scheduled to be back before night, but never arrived, Elgin County OPP say. The search began just after 11:30 pm on Tuesday when the Joint Rescue Coordination Center contacted local police.
“The search summarized in the morning with other resources, including OPP aviation services along with four OPP marine units,” OPP Const. Ed Sanchuk said in a video posted online Wednesday afternoon.
A video posted Thursday morning said the search was ongoing.
Police say the boat is a white, 21-foot Striper with a black canopy. Anyone with information is asked to call OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or St. Thomas-Elgin Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
The Port Burwell marina is about an hour southeast of London.
Big Otter Creek flows into the north shore of Lake Erie.
The body of a 54-year-old Vienna woman was found in waters near the marina in late July after her belongings were found on a dock where her boat was moored earlier in the day.
Cindy Stolk is believed to have fallen off the dock when no one was around to rescue her.
-With files from Free Press reporter Heather Rivers