UPDATE: The Coast Guard has now suspended their search for a man near the Bonner Bridge in Oregon Inlet. Coast Guard Crews covered more than 1,600 square miles and covered areas offshore east of Oregon Inlet and southwest into Pamlico Sound. Crews searched more than 60 combined hours.
Oregon Inlet, N.C. – The Coast Guard is searching for a missing spear fisherman east and west of the Bonner Bridge in Oregon Inlet.
38-year-old Kristopher Mueller of Avon was last known to be spear fishing in the vicinity of the Bonner Bridge.
Sector North Carolina watchstanders were notified at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday after Mueller had not been seen for more than an hour.
Mueller’s vehicle was found by the National Park Service, who continue to investigate.
Personnel from Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet discovered his kayak with fish, a life jacket and a cell phone still aboard, as well as snorkeling gear on a piling nearby.
Searching for Mueller are:
- A C-130 Hercules airplane crew and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City
- A 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew and a 29-foot Response Boat-Small crew from Station Oregon Inlet
- The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Beluga, which is homeported in Virginia Beach, Virginia
