PORT ANGELES, Wash. - The Coast Guard on Sunday suspended the search for two men who never returned from a fishing trip
Coast Guard officials say at 11 p.m. Friday they received a call from a woman who said her husband, Brook Bennett, and his friend Rob Larsen left for a fishing trip at 5 p.m., and had not returned.
A rescue helicopter was launched form Air Station Port Angeles. A small response boat and two cutters based in Port Angeles also aided in the search. ?The Canadian Coast Guard also launched two cutters.
Bennett and Larsen were reported to be fishing in a 14-foot blue and green skiff with a windshield.
"These gentleman were quite experienced fishing in rivers," said Lieutenant Commander Dana Reid, spokesperson for the Coast Guard. "It's unclear what experience levels both the gentlemen had operating in a body of water like the Strait of Juan De Fuca."
Officials searched a 700-square-mile area north of Ediz Hook.
"The last time the family spoke with the gentlemen, they reported they were in about 6-foot swells with a moderate chop," Reid said.
It's believed the men had personal flotation devices or lifejackets on board, Reid said.
Anyone with information on the missing boaters is asked to call the Coast Guard in Port Angeles at 360-417-5840.
