Search Suspended For Missing Beachgoer

SOUTH HARWICH – Following a search of the shoreline at first light Tuesday, the Harwich Fire Department called off its search for a beachgoer believed to be missing since Monday evening.

 Shortly after 6:15 p.m., two beachgoers at Red River Beach called 911 to report that they had seen a man at the end of the west end jetty, and that the man was no longer visible.

“The two women that witnessed the man at the end of the jetty were very confident that it was not enough time for him to have gotten off of the jetty in the time that they lost sight of him,” Fire Chief David LeBlanc said. “The report was very credible.”

The department initiated a water rescue response, summoning firefighters, police officers, harbormaster’s staff and the Coast Guard. LeBlanc also activated the county’s dive team, bringing in specialist divers from departments all over Cape Cod. While divers searched that area, shore-based staff combed nearby beaches, police searched area neighborhoods, and boats patrolled the area. A drone from the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search from the air until the arrival of a Coast Guard helicopter. 

In a bid to verify the witness sighting, the town put out notices on social media and by a reverse 911 system soliciting information about the missing person, who was described as a white man between 30 and 40 years of age wearing black pants and a black sweater with white stripes.

A boater in Nantucket Sound reported finding an article of clothing in the water about three to five miles offshore, but searchers deemed it to be too far away to have been connected with the case. The search was suspended when it became too dark to continue Monday evening, and LeBlanc called off the land-based search effort following a sweep of the beach Tuesday morning. The Coast Guard continued its water-based search for another hour before suspending operations.

LeBlanc said the operation showed off the excellent cooperation between town departments and other outside agencies during an emergency.