In brief: Search called off for fishermen

Mon., March 12, 2012

SEATTLE – The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for four men missing from a fishing trawler off the Washington coast, saying it was unlikely the men were still alive.

Rescue crews had searched through the night after an early-Saturday distress signal from the 70-foot Lady Cecelia led them to a debris field, an empty lifeboat and an oil sheen several miles off the coast.

By Sunday morning, crews in Coast Guard cutters and an MH-60 helicopter had covered 640 square miles, Petty Officer Shawn Eggert said: “We have searched far beyond what the capacity of somebody to survive in these conditions might be.”

Coast Guard officials were unsure what happened to the Lady Cecelia. Eggert said he had no details on the debris found off the coast or whether the vessel was still intact.

The Coast Guard identified the four missing men as Dave Nichols, 42, and Jason Bjaranson, 38, of Warrenton, Ore.; Chris Langel, 25, of Kaukauna, Wis.; and Luke Jensen, 22, of Ilwaco, Wash.

Officer’s child dies after shooting

STANWOOD, Wash. – The 7-year-old daughter of a Marysville police officer who was shot accidentally on Saturday by her brother died Sunday morning, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said.

The brother’s age has not been released.

The siblings were in a silver Volkswagen in the 10200 block of State Route 532 in Stanwood when the brother shot the sister after finding the gun in the glove compartment. There were also two other siblings in the van. The girl was the oldest child in the van.

The call came in about 4 p.m. The children’s parents were nearby at the time of the shooting.

The girl was transported to Harborview Medical Center. The gun was registered to the police officer, who also owns the van. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division is investigating the shooting at the request of the Stanwood Police Department.

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