BRUNSWICK
Though searchers descended on the Androscoggin River in Brunswick Saturday in the area of Bay Bridge Landing where a boater went missing Friday night, the man remains missing.
Friday, witnesses saw brothers William Wines, 30 and Stephen Wines, 27 — both of Bailey Island, pass by in the river and called 911. Brunswick and Topsham fire departments launched rescue boats at the landing and found William Wines in a small boat in the river. He made it to shore and was taken to Mid Coast Hospital where he was treated and released.
Stephen Wines was still missing and believed to be in the water. Maine Marine Patrol and the Bath Harbor Master were called to help search by water. Eventually a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter responded with a high-capacity spotlight and night vision technology and helped look for almost an hour. The search was suspended at around midnight.
Marine Patrol Sgt. Matt Talbot said the search continued starting early Saturday morning with two Marine Patrol boats and officers searching the immediate area around Bay Bridge Landing.
“We had numerous private vessels and private folks wanting to help. They covered a lot of ground including some shoreline searches on some of the islands,” Talbot said.
Brunswick’s municipal shellfish warden and harbor master Dan Devereaux helped search with Brunswick Police Department’s boat and the Marine Patrol aircraft was flying overhead virtually all day, Talbot said.
The search was primarily focused around low tide when the water course is smaller and more land is exposed, making searching easier particularly by air. It allows more area to be covered, Talbot said, and boats to focus on areas of deeper water.
“We obviously expanded the search from the immediate area. The plane flew from upriver all the way down through Merrymeeting Bay,” he said. “Certainly there were areas searched more than other areas, numerous times and more thoroughly,” where it was more likely Wines may have found his way to.
For the most part, conditions were favorable as far as the weather, temperature and for the most part, the water clarity, Talbot said. However it is a river and there are still areas of fast current which present a challenge. The river Saturday was 54 degrees.
“As far as where we go from here, it’s somewhat weather dependent and when conditions warrant, we’ll put a boat back on the water or the plane back up,” Talbot said. “At this point, it doesn’t look like tomorrow is going to be suitable, but we’ll play it by ear.”
Marine Patrol has been in constant communication with Wine’s family and everyone involved, and has done what it can to minimize their stress.
The search was called off a little after 3 p.m. Saturday. Talbot said there’s a limit how effective you can be from a personnel standpoint, and the now high tide vastly increases the search area.
“You want to provide answers and closure,” he said. “We weren’t necessarily to get the outcome we wanted today but we’ll try to continue in the coming days.”
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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