By RON NEWBERRY
Whidbey News-Times

OAK HARBOR — The body of a Poulsbo man was recovered in the water off the western shore of Whidbey Island Aug. 20.

Marine rescue units from the Island County Sheriff’s Department and Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue responded to the report of a sailboat operator who spotted a body floating in the water northwest of Fort Casey State Park.

The body was recovered about a mile from shore at 12:51 p.m., Island County Coroner Robert Bishop said.

Bishop said the man fit the description of a missing ferry passenger who was captured on a security camera jumping from the ferry Kennewick about eight minutes after departing Coupeville on the route’s final passage late Aug. 18.

A search of an abandoned vehicle on the boat once the vessel docked in Port Townsend uncovered the wallet and a suicide note belonging to an 81-year-old man from Poulsbo.

The U.S. Coast Guard led a 12-hour search for the man by water and air that covered a 300-mile radius. The search was suspended Aug. 19.