NEED TO KNOW
- Samuel Shavings, 72, joined neighbors Albert Williams, 65, and Williams’ 19-year-old son for a fishing trip on Monday, May 26
- During their excursion, their boat sank off the coast of Western Alaska near Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea
- Williams’ son was able to swim safety, but his father and Shavings are still missing
Two men are still missing after the boat they were on sank off the coast of Western Alaska on Monday, May 26, according to an Alaska State Trooper (AST) news release.
Albert Williams, 65, and Samuel Shavings, 72, were on a 10-foot Ocean Pro boat with Williams’ 19-year-old son near Mekoryuk, a town located on Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea. Mekoryuk is a village of about 300 people on Nunivak Island in Western Alaska, and is 550 miles west of Anchorage.
Around 9 p.m. local time, AST received a call that a boat sank in rough water conditions.
The 19-year-old swam to shore and was transported to a clinic for further evaluation and treatment. Initially, the AST reported that a second man had been recovered safely, per Alaska News Source. However, on Tuesday, May 27, AST “corrected” its previous report and confirmed that both men are still missing.
Williams’ daughter, Dallas, told the outlet that her father and brother were out subsistence fishing with their neighbor, Shavings. “They were looking — my dad hadn’t gotten a seal yet this spring — so they went to go look for seals,” she explained. “It’s a seasonal thing every spring.”
She then explained how the boat sank. “My brother says that [the sea] was getting really rough and they were taking water in from the motor side,” she said. “And it just filled up with too much water.”
“We have a whole bunch of family coming over to be with my mom so that we’re not alone,” Dallas said. “A lot of people have been bringing food, so we haven’t been alone at all since.”
The ASP reported that two local boats and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for the men from Monday night to Tuesday morning. Additionally, the Rescue Coordination Center planned to launch a C-130 plane on Tuesday morning.
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A representative for the Alaska State Troopers did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.
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