By ARWYN RICE
Peninsula Daily News

ANACORTES — A helicopter crew located an 18-foot boat belonging to a crabber from Bremerton on Nov. 26, but the man was not aboard and is missing, the Coast Guard said.

Searching the waters near Anacortes for Dean Harvey, 48: The Adelie, an 87-foot patrol boat, and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, both from the Port Angeles Coast Guard station, helicopters from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, and the San Juan Sheriff’s Department boat.

The search began the afternoon of Nov. 25, when Harvey was reported overdue in stormy seas.

His boat was found a few hundred yards southeast of Lopez Island, southwest of Anacortes, by the Port Angeles-based helicopter at about 9 a.m. Nov. 26, according to Petty Officer Katelyn Shearer, a Coast Guard spokeswoman in Seattle.

Robert Romero, Harvey’s brother, reported that they both left Anacortes around 8:30 a.m. Nov. 25 in separate 18-foot fishing boats to go crabbing and agreed to return to Anacortes at 3:30 p.m.

Romero returned to Anacortes at 3:30 p.m. and waited for his brother to return until 4:30 p.m.

When he did not, he called Skagit County 9-1-1 operators to report him overdue.

A Port Angeles Coast Guard helicopter completed a search of the area before returning to base the evening of Nov. 25 because of deteriorating weather conditions — heavy rain, 200 yards of visibility, 1 to 2 foot seas and 12 to 17 mph winds.

The weather improved by the morning.