Several local agencies spent a good portion of Sunday trying to determine if someone had fallen off a pontoon boat found adrift & abandoned in the Bay of Green Bay, northeast of the Beach Harbor Resort & off North Duluth Avenue near Sturgeon Bay. The search was eventually called off. The initial call came in around 8:30AM & the US Coast Guard decided to treat the matter as a missing person case. A check of the boat indicated that a line was wrapped around the propeller, the engine was engaged & beer cans were on the deck. Later, a pair of flip flops were found in the water near the Beach Harbor Resort, the place where the pontoon boat had been moored. It was quickly determined that the boat had been taken from the resort without permission. In an effort to find out who might have owned the flip flops, officers canvassed a wide area, but were unable to match the footwear with a specific individual & no missing person reports were called in. In the end, the Coast Guard suspended its search after a helicopter responded to the scene & checked the area. The investigator’s report indicated that an unknown person could have taken the pontoon boat from the dock during the early morning hours, had motor trouble & swam back to shore. While many people were questioned at the resort, no leads were developed & no missing person reports were made. As for the flip flops, they may or may not have been connected to the incident.
