Body of missing Chimacum man found near Central Whidbey beach

A woman walking a beach near Central Whidbey found the body of 65-year-old Chimacum resident David Perelli, ending a search that began with a drifting dinghy and drew in crews from both sides of Puget Sound.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it got the first report about 7:45 p.m. Thursday of an unmanned, untethered 12-foot dinghy near Point Wilson and a possible man-overboard situation. Perelli was last seen aboard the vessel Thursday evening in the vicinity of Point Wilson, and the search was formally concluded Friday afternoon at about 2 p.m. when he was found deceased on Whidbey Island.

The response stretched across air, sea and shoreline. Crews logged more than 715 miles during the more than 17-hour effort, using an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Coast Guard Station Port Angeles, the Coast Guard Cutter Terrapin, a Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife vessel, a drone from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft from Coast Guard Maritime Force Protection Unit Bangor. The Coast Guard also issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast.

A good Samaritan answered that broadcast and towed the drifting dinghy to Port Townsend Marina. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the vessel showed no visible damage. Conditions were difficult for a shoreline search, with about 1-foot seas, 55-degree air temperature, 54-degree water temperature and 5-mile visibility. Salish Rescue said its vessel could work in shallow, tidal areas that were hard for other crews to reach, allowing responders to search places such as Kilsut Harbor and Fort Flagler.

The Royal Canadian Air Force contributed a CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft for five hours. The aircraft is Canada’s newest fixed-wing search-and-rescue plane and is equipped to locate persons or objects from more than 40 kilometres away, even in low-light conditions.

Cmdr. Daniel Delgado, the Coast Guard Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator for Sector Puget Sound, said the search was about the people and families waiting for answers. The Island County Coroner’s Office will handle the death investigation, which can include scene work, witness and family interviews, medical record review, toxicology and autopsy when needed.

For island communities, the case shows how quickly a report from open water can turn into a coordinated search across beaches, tide flats and nearshore waters. In remote shoreline areas, the first call, the first witness and the first stretch of sand can determine how fast responders narrow the search.