A man is missing after the skiff he was aboard capsized Sunday in the Rappahannock River.
Adam Napier, of Ruther Glen, who is in his late 20s or early 30s, went missing early Sunday afternoon in the river near the town of Port Royal. A second man, about the same age, was pulled from the river and was taken to a hospital and treated and released.
Seven jurisdictions, including a boat from the Stafford Fire and Rescue Department, have been called to assist in the search for Napier. Stafford’s boat spent eight hours on Sunday searching for the man and was called back at a.m. today when the search resumed.
Crews will continue their search for Napier until 5 p.m. today. “This is still a search and rescue mission,” said Paige Pearson, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the agency leading the search. “We’re still hopeful.
A boater who witnessed the skiff capsize told a 911 operator the boat appeared to have hit something in the water. Rescue crews found the boat after it had been adrift for about an hour, said Pearson.
There is no indication the boat was traveling at a high rate of speed when it collided with an object, which could have been a sandbar.
“The channel in the Rappahannock is deep, but it’s very shallow in other areas of the river,” added Pearson.
Both men were not wearing lifejackets at the time the boat capsized.
