A Destin area kayaker disappeared last year. New Aqua Alert aims to stop similar tragedies

SHALIMAR — It has been 18 months since David Schink disappeared while kayaking near the Destin Harbor. Now, with the implementation of a new alert system, his family hopes they can prevent similar tragedies.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, along with officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S. Coast Guard and City of Destin announced the launch of the "Aqua Alert" at a Wednesday news conference in Shalimar.

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The public alert system will notify anyone who has the OCSO Sheriff's App downloaded when there is a missing or endangered boater, similar to an Amber or Silver Alert. The idea is to put more eyes on the water, said Destin Mayor Gary Jarvis.

"It creates an awareness to pay a little bit more attention to everything around you because somebody is in need, or in distress, or their situation is unknown," he said. "The Aqua Alert is to create situational awareness within the boating community. That is how you save lives."

Turning a tragedy into a way to help others

The idea for the alert system came after Schink's disappearance Feb. 13, 2021. It was his sixth year traveling from Minnesota to Destin with his wife, Judy.

He left Norriego Point that day in a blue and green kayak. As an outdoorsman who loved hiking and paddling, Schink frequently spent all day on the water. But as it grew dark that evening, his wife began to wonder why he hadn't come home.

"Because he loved sunsets and because he would take extremely long paddling adventures, I didn't know he was in trouble until it got dark and he hadn't come back from the water," Judy Schink said. "So then I called 911."

A watercraft advisory was broadcast by the U.S. Coast Guard over VHF radio channel 16, but few boaters heard the alert that day. The Coast Guard searched more than 9,160 square nautical miles continuously for 49 hours before suspending the search.

"All these wonderful people did an amazing job looking for him, but they never did find David," Judy Schink said. "They found the boat. They found a broken paddle, and despite David being an excellent swimmer, we didn’t get him back home."

As she and her son Dan Schink, who flew in from Minnesota, waited to hear the news, they noticed how several boats were docked at the harbor. Feeling helpless, Judy Schink said they wished they had some way to ask the other boaters for help looking for David.

That's when her son turned to her and said "you need an Amber Alert for the boats." The Schink family has since spent countless hours working with the FWC, Coast Guard and other local officials to make the Aqua Alert a reality.

"The idea of Aqua Alert will help save lives, lower the cost of search, as well as shorten the time," Dan Schink said. "And those times where the person has already passed, recovery of that individual, which will allow them not to suffer what we’ve gone through."

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How the Aqua Alert aids in search and rescue missions

When Judy Schink first proposed the idea to Jarvis, he said he "gravitated toward it immediately." As a legacy fisherman, Jarvis said he is familiar with the challenges the Coast Guard, FWC and OCSO Marine Unit face in finding missing boaters.

Anytime a boater is reported missing, a preliminary investigation is conducted to determine whether the disappearance poses a credible threat to the person's welfare and safety.

If it is confirmed that the boater is missing and safe conditions exist, a search and rescue will be launched. Previously, the information, including a description of the boater and vessel, would be broadcast over VHF radio channel 16.

But now the Aqua Alert will expand that information to anyone with a mobile phone who has the OCSO Sheriff's App downloaded.

"I'm a professional mariner. Most of the time we're over on channel 72 or 68 shooting the breeze and you don't monitor channel 16," Jarvis said. "So even though it’s a valuable tool for the Coast Guard… the audience is not as large as it needs to be, and that is the whole importance of Aqua Alert."

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said the platform is already used to notify the public during weather-related incidents and other emergencies such as school lockdowns. The Aqua Alert was integrated into the existing system.

"Hopefully we do get this out to the boaters and the community at large so we can spread the awareness. It's a well-needed tool," said Aden, who added that there are at least three boaters reported missing in Okaloosa County each year.

Expanding the system beyond Okaloosa County

While the program is currently only active in Okaloosa County, Aden said the idea is to "go broader." That would mean implementing similar alert systems in neighboring counties, across the state and possibly even on a national scale.

Dan Schink has been working with legislators in Minnesota to get an amendment drafted. And Judy Schink plans to present the concept to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators next week in New Hampshire.

Seeing the Aqua Alert become a reality is somewhat bittersweet for the Schink family.

"It's very rewarding and it's still bittersweet," Judy Schink said after the press conference Wednesday. "David would love this. He would love to be one of the guys out there looking. He would be absolutely tickled to be part of a search. It does mean a lot."

Judy Schinksaid she is thankful for all of the people who worked with her along the way and encouraged her to "keep going." She hopes that her husband’s story will encourage others to download the Sheriff's App and be more aware of safety on the water.

"Sign up and keep your eyes open. If you can think of anything to make your loved one safer on the water, do it now," she said. "Don't wait. David had all of the common things. He was wearing a life jacket, he had a flashlight, he had a whistle… Be over prepared."

The app can be downloaded by searching "Okaloosa County Sheriff, FL" in the App Store or Google Play. Alerts can be enabled in the app's notification settings.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Okaloosa County starts Aqua Alert to help search for missing boaters