Missing Buxton boater found safe

By Submitted Story on August 3, 2022

Update: A Coast Guard spokesperson confirms that the missing boater, 38-year-old John Hess of Buxton, was found safe at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 4. His boat had become disabled, and it drifted toward Rodanthe where a bridge construction crew found him.

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Coast Guard searches for missing Buxton boater

(United States Coast Guard)

The Coast Guard is searching Pamlico Sound for a missing boater on Wednesday Aug. 3 after he did not return to shore as expected Tuesday evening.

The missing boater has been identified as 38-year-old John Hess, from Buxton.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center received notification of the situation from Carteret County Emergency Dispatch at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.

It was relayed that Hess took a friend’s 23-foot boat from a private residence in Beaufort onto the South River at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday and did not return at night as expected.

The boat’s owner searched for Hess overnight with no results, then alerted authorities.

A Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter crew and response boat crews from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet and Coast Guard Station Hobucken are searching for Hess.

Also assisting in the search are personnel from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Harkers Island Fire Department, North Carolina Marine Patrol, and the South River-Merrimon Fire Department.

Anyone with additional information regarding this case should contact the Sector North Carolina command center at 910-343-3880.

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