OUTER BANKS, N.C. - A boater was found safe in Rodanthe after he was reported missing after taking a boat out on the Pamlico Sound Tuesday evening and did not return.
John Hess, 38, borrowed a friend's 23-foot boat in Beaufort at around 4:30 p.m. and did not return at night as expected. The boat's owner searched for Hess overnight with no results, then alerted authorities.
He was reported to the Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center as missing at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, the Carteret Sheriff's Office reported that he had been found safely.
According to the Coast Guard, 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 helped search for Hess.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Harkers Island Fire Department, North Carolina Marine Patrol and South River-Merrimon Fire Department also assisted in the search.
