ST. GEORGE (NEWS CENTER Maine) — After searching much of the night and all day Friday, Knox County Sheriff's deputies and the Maine Marine Patrol have suspended their search for a missing clammer until Saturday morning.
Marine Patrol Sgt. Matt Talbot said Paul Benner of Thomaston headed out in his small boat on Long Cove late Thursday afternoon when the snow and strong winds were still battering the area.
Talbot said Benner had dug clams in the cove for years and knows the area well. When he did not return home, his family notified the sheriff's department at about 11 p.m. Thursday and the search immediately began.
Talbot said deputies, Marine Patrol officers and volunteer firefighters searched the shore on foot and by boat in the dark. The Coast Guard brought in a search boat and also a helicopter. They found Benner's boat washed up on the shore of Clark Island, on the opposite side of Long Cove.
By daylight, when the tide had gone down, they found some of his clamming gear on the mud.
Talbot said it is a difficult search.
"Obviously, as the day progresses and even as last night progressed, given the air temperature and water temperature, it's a dangerous mix," he said. "Certainly, if you were in the water last night for any length of time survivability drops significantly."
Benner's family members and friends — some of whom had also searched through the night — gathered on shore to comfort each other and wait for news from the searchers. They described Benner as a hard worker, who lately had been doing tree work for a cousin during the day and often clamming at night to earn extra money.
One friend and coworker said Benner "has a heart of gold."
Several relatives questioned why he chose to go out in the middle of the storm to dig clams. Sgt. Talbot, who knows Benner himself, said he was "a bit" surprised, but that harsh conditions are sometimes part of the lives of fishermen.
"Night had fallen, it was still snowing and winds were blowing," he said. "But commercial harvesters in Maine work in all kinds of conditions so it was not completely unheard of."
The search continued in the afternoon with Marine Patrol and State Police divers, but nothing was found. Searchers plan to be back on Long Cove Saturday morning.