Missing boater from Outer Banks found safe in Rodanthe, sheriff’s office says

Caitlyn Burchett, The Virginian-Pilot
·1 min read
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A boater who went missing from the Pamlico Sound on Tuesday night was found safe in Rodanthe, the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday.

The Southern Outer Banks sheriff’s office shared on Facebook that the search for 38-year-old Jonathon Hess, of Buxton, was over just after 9 a.m. Thursday, around 24 hours after it began. Additional details were not immediately available.

The U.S. Coast Guard took to the Pamlico Sound on Wednesday in search of Hess, who failed to return to shore.

Hess took a friend’s 23-foot May-Craft boat from a private residence in Beaufort onto the South River at approximately 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Hess was expected to return that night, according to a press release from the Coast Guard Fifth District.

The Coast Guard was notified about the missing boater around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday after the boat’s owner reported Hess missing to the Carteret County Emergency Dispatch.

The boat’s owner, who was not identified, searched for Hess overnight with no results, the release said.

An MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City and response boat crews from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet and Coast Guard Station Hobucken searched for Hess. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Harkers Island Fire Department, North Carolina Marine Patrol, and the South River-Merrimon Fire Department also assisted in the search.

Caitlyn Burchett, 727-267-6059, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com