By J.W. Oliver
Updated Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.
A report of a sailboat in distress and a person in the water off Pemaquid Point, possibly a hoax, prompted a massive search Jan. 17.
Bristol 1st Assistant Fire Chief Jared Pendleton (center) speaks to firefighters and search-and-rescue team members at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park in Bristol Jan. 17. About 40-50 volunteers searched the shoreline within 1-2 miles of either side of the point for a sinking sailboat with a man on board. (J.W. Oliver photo) |
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A 911 call at 5:28 a.m. set the search in motion. The effort would eventually involve 40 to 50 people on the ground, several boats, and two U.S. Coast Guard aircraft. The Coast Guard suspended the search at 3:20 p.m., almost 10 hours after it began.
The Maine Marine Patrol is considering a criminal charge of filing a false report against the man who called 911.
“It’s still under investigation, and the determination as to whether or not to file a charge has not been reached yet,” spokesman John Nichols said.
The spokesman would not release more details, such as the identity of the man and his motive for the report.
A father and son were aboard a sinking, 23-foot sailboat en route from Massachusetts to the Bristol area, according to the report. The son was able to make it to shore with a life ring, but the father was going to attempt to make shore in South Bristol.
The search did not turn up any physical evidence, except for a life ring deployed from Pemaquid Point lighthouse, stretching toward the water. The identity of the father and son and the name and port of the sailboat were not available.
Authorities soon began to question the truth of the strange story.
“We don’t know how reliable the source is right now,” Bristol 1st Assistant Fire Chief Jared Pendleton said at the scene, two hours into the search. “The sheriff’s office is trying to locate him right now so we can do an extensive interview and get more firsthand information.”
Shortly after noon, Maine Marine Patrol personnel shared a similar view.
“It appears we received a lot of misinformation,” Maine Marine Patrol Lt. Rene Cloutier said. “We’re trying to confirm that.”
“An officer is doing an interview as we speak,” Cloutier said. “We don’t know a lot about whether there was actually a boat missing or not.”
The Coast Guard suspended the search “pending further developments” at 3:20 p.m., according to a Coast Guard statement.
The search cost huge sums of money and endangered dozens of participants, including many volunteers.
The ground search in the pre-dawn darkness was particularly harrowing work, as volunteers clambered over icy rocks within the reach of the powerful Pemaquid Point surf.
A wave knocked down one firefighter, and another fell and sustained a possible elbow fracture, Pendleton said.
“Our basic theory is, you risk a lot to save a lot, and we felt we had a lot to save,” Pendleton said. “Knowing what we know now, we would have risked nothing.”
“It’s extremely concerning, but it’s a very, very, very small percentage of what we do, so it won’t affect us, it won’t change what we do on an everyday basis,” Pendleton said.
The firefighter with the elbow injury is Brad Pendleton, Jared Pendleton’s brother. The brothers own and operate the family plumbing-and-heating business.
“He’s basically out of work, except for super-light-duty stuff, for the next couple of weeks, minimum,” Jared Pendleton said.
The cost of the search, in dollars and cents, will take some time to calculate.
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An MH-60 helicopter out of U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod searches for a sailboat in distress off Pemaquid Point at 8:50 a.m., Jan. 17. A report of the sailboat in distress, which authorities now believe was a false report, prompted a massive search of the area. (Sherrie Tucker photo) |
“It’s a long process, so we’re not going to have that number for a while,” said Lt. Scott McCann, a spokesman for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England.
In the case of a hoax, authorities could attempt to recover the expense of the search from the responsible party, which would add up to a substantial sum.
“It’s a pretty high standard to meet to prove something was a willful hoax, but the Coast Guard has done that in the past,” McCann said.
“It’s the taxpayers’ money we spend going out there searching for the guys, so if we do that, we want to make sure we’re searching for someone who’s actually in distress,” McCann said.
An HC-144 Casa airplane and an MH-60 helicopter out of U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and a 47-foot boat out of Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor participated in the search, along with about 10 lobster boats.
The air and sea search covered 831 nautical miles, according to the Coast Guard, while about 40-50 people searched the shoreline within 1 to 2 miles to either side of the point.
The Coast Guard urged anyone with information about the case to call the Coast Guard Sector Northern New England Command Center at 767-0302.
