Missing angler’s boat found far off North Carolina — with no one aboard, officials say

UPDATE: A second search mounted to find Jeffrey Kale off North Carolina was suspended April 10 after rescue crews spent 100 combined hours covering more than 11,690 square miles, the U.S. Coast Guard reports. He remains missing.

The original story is below.

The disappearance of an angler off North Carolina took a more mysterious turn when someone discovered his boat moving across the Atlantic Ocean with no one aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard says.

Jeffrey Kale of Clover, South Carolina, remains missing and the discovery jump-started a second search to find him, the USCG said in an April 9 news release.

“A good Samaritan located a vessel matching the description of the boat Jeffery Kale was aboard, nearly 83 miles east of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina,” the USGC said.

“The vessel had fishing gear engaged and was moving northeast at nearly 6 miles per hour. There was no one aboard and no visible damage to the vessel.”

Wrightsville Beach is about a 130-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.

Kale was “last seen around 4 p.m. Saturday, April 6, departing the Southport Wildlife Boat Ramp,” the U.S. Coast Guard said.

“Watchstanders received a notification from Kale’s family stating he was overdue from a fishing trip around 10:30 p.m. (Saturday),” officials said.

His vessel is a white 32-foot Cape Horn center-console boat, officials said.

An initial search for Kale was suspended April 8, after searchers covered 7,762 square miles off North Carolina, the U.S. Coast Guard says.

The search focused on the stretch of coast between Blackjack and Steeples, which covers about seven miles, officials said. It’s an area Kale was known to fish regularly, officials said.

Coast Guard officials say the renewed search includes patrol boat, HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and various Navy assets, officials said.

Kale’s home in Clover is about a 30-mile drive southwest from Charlotte in York County, S.C.

This story was originally published April 9, 2024 at 4:59 PM.