Boater reported missing

SANDPOINT — A Washington state boater remains missing and is presumed drowned after boat was found Sunday evening in the center of Lake Pend Oreille without him on board.

John Arthur Key, 67, of Newman Lake, Wash., had been boating with friends during the day in the Cape Horn area of Lake Pend Oreille and left to head back to Bayview, according to a Bonner County Sheriff’s Office press release. He was reported missing about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 2, after his boat was located by friends without him on board.

A multi-agency search was conducted, with three Bonner County Marine Division boats searching the area along with Timber Lake Fire District, Spirit Lake Fire and a number of boaters in the vicinity. In addition, an aerial search was conducted by Sheriff’s Special Deputy Claycomb in his private helicopter.

Key was not located and searching suspended during the night. Continued efforts to find Key have been unsuccessful. He remains missing and is presumed to have drowned, Bonner County Undersheriff Ror Lakewold said Tuesday.

The Bonner County Sheriff’s Marine Division will continue searching the area. The investigation will continue with other search options being explored, sheriff’s officials said in the press released.

The lake where Key was reported missing is 1,100 feet, complicating the search, and any sub-surface search efforts.