Search teams scouring the Willamette River near Willamette Falls on Sunday reported finding an empty kayak after reports a kayaker went over the falls late Saturday and did not resurface.
A massive search and rescue effort began about 11 p.m. Saturday after 911 calls came in about a kayaker “in distress” near Willamette Falls, which has a 42-foot drop and is 1,500 feet wide, the length of four football fields.
The search resumed Sunday morning with members of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Clackamas Fire District, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Lake Oswego Fire Department. The falls is at Oregon City, 26 miles upriver from the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.
A little after 7 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard located a blue hard-shell kayak, which matched the description of the kayak the missing boater was using. The kayak was recovered by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit.
The boater remained missing, and his name was not released. “The family has respectfully requested privacy,” the Clackamas County Sheriff’s office said Sunday afternoon.
Search efforts remained under way with help on the river and via aerial drone
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