On 07/14/2012 at about 4:12 PM, the operator of a 17 foot aluminum open motorboat with jet drive was seen by a fisherman on shore cruising up the Skagit River just east of the town of Lyman.  The river was considered to be at a high level with a large flow. The water temperature was 49 degrees F.  The witness had turned away and then heard a loud noise, as if the boat had hit something.  When he turned back to look at the boat he could see a man's head in the water floating downstream followed by the boat with a dog in it.  The operator had been the only person in the boat and was apparently thrown from the boat when it hit a submerged object.  The witness was certain the man did not have a life jacket on because all he could see was his head sticking out of the water.   He watched the man until he floated out of sight around a bend in the river.

The Skagit CSO and members of the SAR team spent several days searching for the missing man but by July 19 he was not recovered and the search was called off.

Lyman                         