THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150452
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA LENGTH: 70 lines
A team of divers braved the near-freezing waters of Currituck Sound for more than three hours Tuesday, but were unsuccessful in their search for 51-year-old Philip Boedker of Chesapeake.
Boedker has been missing since Saturday, when a 17-foot boat sank and turned a duck-hunting trip into tragedy. Another hunter and two children died in the water. The father of one of the boys survived after 14 hours in the water.
The divers, from the Chesapeake Police Department, began the search for Boedker about 1:30 p.m., in an area near where the boat sank. They concentrated on an area where dogs indicated they had picked up a scent Monday. The water temperature was 34 degrees when divers went in Tuesday.
Though the water was only 6feet deep, visibility was a problem.
``It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack,'' said Randy LeFebvre, one of the divers.
Another diver, Detective Troy Lindsey said, ``You could only see about six to eight inches in front of your face if you were still. Once the sand got stirred up down there, you couldn't see anything. We were operating pretty much by feel.''
The effort got a helping hand from state wildlife and marine police, the Corolla Fire and Rescue Squad and private boats. Commmercial fisherman Ricky Holt of Poplar Branch used a deep-water net similar to a haul seine to comb the murky waters. Other boats also dragged the sandy bottom, while helicopters and aircraft from the Navy and the Civil Air Patrol provided aerial surveillance.
In all, about 50 people, many of them volunteers, have pitched in on the search. A nearby hotel, the Sanderling Inn, fortified searchers with complimentary sandwiches and steaming vegetable soup.
``The divers were brought in because we wanted to get down to two specific areas where we hit something,'' said Donnie Beacham, director of emergency operations for Currituck County.
The nets have hauled in shotguns belonging to the hunters, some decoys, a pair of binoculars and the console of the boat. But so far, there has been no sign of Boedker, who was scheduled to retire from his job at Norfolk Naval Shipyard later this month.
The searchers included more than a dozen relatives and friends of Boedker, including his children, Philip Jr., 31, and daughter Kelly, 19. They gathered at the end of a nearby boat launch, watching and waiting.
``The waiting is hard,'' Kelly Boedker said. ``But prayers and the support of our family and friends have kept us going. That, and the knowledge that he's in heaven, and the knowledge that one day we're going to be there with him.''
The days since the tragedy have been difficult for the family.
``Every time my mother sees something about it on TV, she cries,'' Kelly Boedker said. ``Every time she reads about it in the paper, she cries. My aunt answers the phone at home now because Mom doesn't want to tell the story over and over. They're waiting by the phone for any news at all.''
Chief Marshall Cherry of the Corolla Fire and Rescue Squad said people who are familiar with the waters of Currituck Sound say that most victims of boating accidents are found within 30 yards of accidents.
The survivor of last Saturday's tragedy, Michael LaBounty Sr., 29, of Moyock, helped in the search Monday. His 8-year-old son, Michael Jr., and John Milton Melson, 33, and Melson's 6-year-old son, John Sidney Melson, died in the water after the boat sank.
Currituck County spokesman John Mulvey said the search will begin again at about 8 a.m. today. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
CURRITUCK SOUND SEARCH
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT BOAT MISSING PERSON