JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday suspended its 10-day search for a missing floatplane carrying a Gardiner man, his twin brother and three others on a flight departing near Sitka.
Jim Murphy of Gardiner, Joe Murphy of Bremerton and two California men chartered the plane Sept. 20 for a fishing trip to remote islands near Baranof Warm Springs in southeast Alaska.
The Beaver floatplane was chartered through Harris Air in Sitka and piloted by Harris employee Eric Johnson.
An intensive search was conducted by crews from the Coast Guard and other agencies.
The effort turned up no signs of the overdue plane, its pilot or anyone on board, said Capt. Mike Kendall, chief of search and rescue for the 17th Coast Guard District in Alaska.
Jim Murphy’s wife, Bonnie, was in Sitka with other family members on Thursday. She could not be reached by phone.