Family looks for additional aid to find missing local fisherman

The family of missing fisherman Logan Preston met at the Lubec boat ramp on Sunday, May 3, to express concern about the progress in the search for Preston's body and the hull of the dragger All American. Preston and fellow fisherman Loren Lank had been dragging for sea urchins in Cobscook Bay on March 25 when the boat sank for unknown reasons. The body of Lank was discovered by the Maine Marine Patrol in a debris field near Comstock Point on Seward's Neck, Lubec. Preston has not been found.

An extensive search was conducted on April 5 for Preston and the fiberglass hull, with search and rescue crews involving about 25 people that included community and professional volunteers, Down East Emergency Medicine Institute (DEEMI), Dirigo Search and Rescue, Volunteer K-9 Scent Specific Search & Rescue (V K-9) and the Maine Marine Patrol. The group worked for a number of hours attempting to narrow down the location of Preston's body but was not successful. However, the "area of interest" was narrowed to the area between Red Island and Seward’s Neck through the work of the V K-9 team.

A week later the volunteer group DEEMI was back with its aircraft and took over 700 images. Those images were scanned by Volunteer Imagery Analysts for Search and Rescue (VIASAR), a group of volunteer Air Force military intelligence personnel. Despite hopes for finding Preston through identification of the hull's location, VIASAR did not find anything of interest in the images.

At the boat-ramp gathering, family member Lisa Bean suggested the use of specialized instruments to help with the search. "They have done some sonar, but have they done enough in the areas that need to be taken a look at? There is special equipment that is capable of picking up objects down to 400 to 800 feet, through the Navy, we've heard." The family has contacted the offices of Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Congressman Michael Michaud for help but is not optimistic.

Senator Snowe, in an e-mail release to The Quoddy Tides, said, "At the request of the Preston family, I am currently exploring all viable options to facilitate the ongoing search for 19-year-old urchin fisherman Logan Preston. My office has made a number of inquiries including with the United States Coast Guard to determine how they might be of assistance. We have also reached out to those engaged in local recovery efforts. We will continue to maintain an open line of communication with Logan's family, and I remain committed to doing whatever I can to help bring them the closure and peace of mind they desire and deserve as they continue to mourn their tremendous loss."

Upon being asked if the U.S. Coast Guard has side-scan sonar, Officer-in-Charge James Malcolm of Station Eastport said that the station does not have such an instrument.

Geoff Stankiewicz is vice president of Enviroscan, a Pennsylvania-based company that utilizes side-scan sonar for land, marine, borehole and airborne geophysical investigations. They have also helped locate drowning victims across the country, primarily in lakes and quarry holes. He says that side-scan sonar "is widely used for locating debris piles C sunken ships, downed planes."

The technology utilizes "a 'tow-fish' that is put in the water and towed below a boat. It then bounces back to a boat-based computer a swath of continuous sound-beam frequencies." These high resolution frequencies will pick up images, Stankiewicz says, and shorten search time considerably. However, he notes, using the scanner in an area with deep crevices, rocky outcrops or heavily laden with seaweed "could be a problem" for both the scanner and the tow-line for the equipment. He suggests that tools like this are critical to use because "it's too big an area to send down divers."

Richard Bowie, director of DEEMI, says that the Maine Marine Patrol has side-scan sonar and used it early in the search effort. Maine Marine Patrol Officer Russell Wright confirms, "Yes, we did use the side-scan sonar for two different days." It would not make sense to use it any longer in the search efforts, he feels. The problem with that particular tool, Bowie says, is that "it's sort of like looking through a whole bunch of buildings, all those rock formations."

A magnetometer is the tool Bowie thinks would be most useful in finding the engine and cable remains of the All American. They are expensive, he says. Magnetometers are most often used to find shipwreck salvage, mines and other explosive devices and underwater pipelines and cables. The instrument is towed much like side-scan sonar and records concentrations of iron. It can have similar towing problems as the scanner and also requires special add-on equipment when 4:1 towing conditions cannot be met. The ratio requirement is generally 400' of cable for a depth of 100'. As far as Bowie knows, no search and rescue operation in Maine has such a tool. "If someone could find or buy one for the state's search and rescue efforts, that would be very helpful," he says. "Unfortunately, it's often through tragedies that good changes happen."

Wright believes that the Navy might have such a tool and is not "100% sure" if the Coast Guard has one, but if they did it would not be in the area. Upon being asked if Senator Snowe would be able to assist in the effort to find a magnetometer for continued search efforts, Press Secretary Julia Wanzco said, "We have reached out to the appropriate federal agencies and are working with them to determine options we have. At this point in time, it would be premature to comment on what those options are since we are still exploring them with the agencies."

"I think he [Logan Preston] was dragged down deep and is with the hull and cable. It's important for the community to keep looking because eventually something will show," Bowie says.

The volunteer DEEMI and V K-9 teams will be back to continue the search on May 9 or 10, depending upon the V K-9 availability.