Previous Story
Search continues for missing swimmer off Tinian
TINIAN—Responders from Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam are searching for a missing swimmer off the northwest coast of Tinian, CNMI.
A statement from the Forager Fury III Public Affairs Office said that the missing swimmer is a Marine temporarily assigned to Tinian. It said the individual was reported missing on Sept. 26, Friday, while wading in heavy surf conditions on the northwestern shore of Tinian.
The individual has yet to be located after an intensive search coordinated by U.S. Coast Guard sector Guam that began Friday evening by the Saipan Department of Public Safety, Tinian DPS, and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 search and rescue teams.
The identity of the service member is being withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin has been notified.
Responders from Saipan and Tinian DPS, CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, U.S. Air Base Kadena, and U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam continued their search yesterday.
U.S. Coast Guard cutter Washington traveled from Guam and arrived to the search area Saturday night and continued the search effort into the early morning hours of Sept. 28. All other resources returned to base shortly before dark.
On the morning of Sept. 28, Washington was joined by small boats and surface swimmers from DPS, a small boat from Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, a helicopter from HSC-25, and a U.S. Navy P-8 aircraft from Kadena Air Base in Japan to assist in the multiagency search being conducted around the island of Tinian. A land search team composed of U.S. Marines and Tinian DPS are searching the north, east, and west coastlines on Tinian. Sector Guam has expanded its search planning to include the eastern and southern portions of the island after receiving data from deployed data marker buoys giving a more accurate depiction of water currents around the island.
Current weather forecast for Tinian is winds of 15 to 25 knots, waves of three to five feet, and isolated thunderstorms. (USCG/FFIIIPAO)
