Tillamook County Sheriff's Office, Oregon - Press Release 01-03-2006
http://www.tillamooksheriff.org

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12/28/2005
Two Boating Accidents Claim Two Lives

Published: January 3, 2006
By Headlight-Herald

NAN NELSON/Headlight-Herald

BAY CITY — Two men, including a Tillamook resident, are missing and presumed dead following boating incidents in Tillamook Bay over the last week.

Shrimp fisherman Robert Gray Thomas, 36, of Tillamook, was reported missing Thursday, Dec. 28, by his partner after their boat drifted away from them as they pumped shrimp on a sandbar.

Corey Lynn Parker, 22, also of Tillamook, told authorities they decided to swim ashore. Parker called 9-1-1 after reaching land and reported that Thomas was not with him. Parker was found at about 10 p.m. and was taken to Tillamook County General Hosptal where he was treated and released.

The Coast Guard began searching for Thomas Thursday night with a 47-foot motor lifeboat from its Tillamook Bay station and a helicopter based in Astoria.

The Tillamook County Sheriff's Office, Bay City Fire Department, Garibaldi Fire Department, Tillamook Fire Department and Tillamook County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Unit joined the search.

The search was suspended at 1:30 a.m. Friday due to 50-mile-per-hour winds and driving rain that reduced visibility to zero. Rescue workers resumed their search later Friday morning at first light.

The boat was found Friday morning in the south channel west of Bay City.

According to Coast Guard officials, neither of the men was wearing a personal flotation device.

Saturday, Dec. 31, a Lake Oswego man was reported missing after the 12-foot boat he and his 13-year-old son were in capsized near the entrance to Tillamook Bay.

Authorities said Danny Beierle, 48, and his son were trying to anchor near the inlet when their anchor fouled and the boat capsized. Due to a strong ebb tide, the boat was pulled away.

The son was wearing a life jacket and was able to swim to the South Jetty, where local authorities found him. He was taken to a local medical facility.

Beierle, who was not wearing a life jacket, was seen clinging to the boat before it was pulled into the bar area, where waves estimated at 12 to 14 feet were breaking.

Two 47-foot motor lifeboats from Coast Guard Station Tillamook Bay conducted offshore searches and a search of the bar area until midnight Saturday. A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria conducted two flights to search the area. Local authorities also conducted a shoreline search.

The search was suspended at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. The boat drifted onto Short Sands beach.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.