KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Admiral says Coast Guard is deeply saddened.
A Coast Guard member from the Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro was found unresponsive and later declared dead while the Kodiak cutter was in Dutch Harbor on Sunday.
Seaman Ethan Kelch, was a 19-year-old from Virginia, according to a Coast Guard press release.
A search was launched after he was reported missing during normal liberty hours on Saturday night while the cutter was in Dutch Harbor awaiting repairs.
Kelch was found unresponsive on the west side of Amaknak Island.
Local emergency personnel performed CPR and transporting him to the Iliuliuk Clinic where he was pronounced dead early Sunday morning.
In the press release, the commander of the Coast Guard in Alaska, Rear Admiral Matthew T. Bell, Junior said that the Coast Guard is deeply saddened by what the loss of Kelch.
“As we mourn his death, we send our deepest condolences to Seaman Kelch’s family and loved ones,” he said.
Numerous Coast Guard and local people were involved in the search for Kelch. Munro crewmembers and personnel from the Unalaska Fire and Police departments searched by land, while an Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin searched by air.
An investigation is underway and the Coast Guard is working with local authorities to determine the cause of death.
Kelch’s next of kin was notified, according to the Coast Guard.
