Coast Guard locates owner of runaway boat
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)—The Coast Guard says an empty boat that launched a search east of Whittier had drifted away from its owner and was not the result of anyone overboard.
The owner came forward June 3 to identify the boat.
A 10-foot (3-meter) blue and gray Zodiak was reported adrift in Passage Canal.
The boat carried fishing gear, oars and cat food, which can be used as shrimp bait. The boat had no motor and no identifying numbers on the hull.
Fearing someone overboard, the Coast Guard launched a search with a Jayhawk helicopter from Kodiak, a response boat crew from Valdez and an auxiliary crew out of Whittier to search.