RedactedNarrative: On 5/14/22 at 1614 hrs, uscg station ft macon received an urgent call via vhf radio from two people who stated they came across a 19 ft white mcke craft vessel that was unoccupied.
  
  I was onboard the cg 29ft response boat small in the vicinity of the morehead city waterfront when the call was heard on channel 16 and responded to the incident location.
  
  Upon arrival, i observed the mckee craft behind subject1's vessel being towed.  Subject1 stated he and subject2 located the vessel near the rocks located behind carteret community college.  Subject1 stated he took the vessel in stern tow to not allow it to hit the rocks to the west of the nc fisheries pier.
  
  The crew and i took the vessel into an alongside tow and provided station ft macon the registration number.  I observed the throttle to be in the forward position with the engine off.  I observed the keys and the kill switch to still be in the key hole as well as a vhf radio to be on in the cup holder near the steering wheel.  I searched the vessel to possibly locate any identification but none was found.  Station ft macon contacted me via cell phone and stated the state registration number number returned the owner's information.  This information was provided to the station ft macon who further advised morehead city police to have an officer respond to his residence.
  
  I was put in contact with officer of the morehead city police dept who was in contact with his wife.  She advised that operator was going to take his boat out or the first time that day but she refused to go along with him due to the high level of intoxication he was under.  Wife advised that she last observed operator at 1430 hours departing port side marina.  She described operator as a white male wearing what she thought was just a pair of shorts.  She then stated that he did not know how to wim and he was taken taking numerous anti-anxiety and depression medications.
  
  Due to wife stating she last received a text from him from portside marina, the crew of the cg vessel responded to speak to potential witnesses as well observe any video surveillance footage.
  
  Upon arrival to the marina, i spoke to a dockhand.  He stated he observed operator at 1200 hrs when he had the pier staff lower his boat into the water.  Dockhand stated operator did not appear to be under the influence but just appeared to be a "bit off".  Dockhand stated operator drove his boat on the water for a short time, returning and stating to him that he was going to buy the staff pizza and that he was departing to pick up his wife and child.  Dockhand stated he observed operator to be wearing a t-shirt and jeans and departed the area.
  
  Another dockhand stated he observed the same as dockhand bur further advised that after operator departed that area, he moved operator's vessel from the "put-in" dock, to a temporary mooring located approximately 50 feet to the west.  He further advised that in the short transit from the "put-in" dock to the pier, operator's engine stopped working four times.
  
  The dock manager stated she observed operator near the bathrooms located at the top of the pier near the west exit door of the marina store at 1530 hours.  She stated she never saw operator walk down the pier nor depart the marina on his boat.
  
  I watched the closed circuit television footage and observed the following:  at 1515, i observed operator wearing a green shirt and a dark pair of pants near the bathrooms located near the west exit door of the marina store.  I observed operator to "stumble" as he walked down the pier, almost falling into the water as he walked towards his boat.  
  
  At 1522 hours, i observed operator operate his vessel away from the slip and proceed to drive it south with its port side parallel with pier 9 of the nc state port pier.
  
  The camera blurred from there and i was unable to observe where he operated his vessel from there.
  I requested petty officer to proceed to the state port to observe cctv footage captured by their cameras.  Po stated the following:  at 1530 hours, he observed operator operate his vessel south along pier 9 towards the morehead city juntion buoy.  Po stated the vessel had very little bow wake indicating that he was not traveling at a high rate of speed.  Po stated once operator was passed the junction aid, the camera footage was blurry and he could not observe where he continued on to.
  
  I relayed all information to uscg sector nc command center as well as the crew of the 24509, atlantic beach fire dept, morehead city fire and police, and nc marine patrol.  Due to the last observation of operator being east of the atlantic beach bridge, all vessels searched for operator from the junction aid towards the west.
  
  At 1827 hrs, cg rescue helicopter 65040 arrived on scene to help with the search.  I contacted the helicopter to advise them of the updated clothing description and last known position of operator.  At 1840 hrs, cg helicopter 65040 advised the crew of the cg 24509 that they had spotted operator in the water.  The crew of the 24ft response boat proceeded to that location and retrieved operator from the water.  The 24ft crew responded to the morehead city wildlife boat ramp to meet the morehead city fire/rescue.  Medic 62 advised that operator was deceased.
  
  Positive identification was made due to locating operator's driver license that was in his wallet, which was on his person as well as the observation of the same clothing he was wearing in the footage observed in the cctv footage.
  
  It should be noted, operator was not observed to have any injuries to his body and face indicating he suffered from a traumatic injury.
  
  At 2131 hours, ofc of the ncwrc contacted myself to advise that wife was notified of her husband's death.  Sector nc command center was notified as well.
  
  Nothing further to report.
  
  
  Note:  this report was entered into bard manually due to transmission issues with the report beam system.
  
  
  
  