Man falls off Christmas ship and disappears into the Columbia
A man who fell overboard from a boat that was participating in the annual Christmas Ship Parade has not been seen since and the fear is that he drowned in the cold Columbia River.
The incident happened Saturday, December 10, in the evening around 9:15 p.m. in the St. Helens area. The parade boats had returned from a night on the river and had been docked for about an hour and a half.
As people began getting off the boats, 43-year-old John Sullivan of St. Helens slipped and fell from the top deck of a vessel called the ‘Trilogy.’
“(He) slipped because it was icy and he fell over the rail, onto the swimboard and off into the water,” said Jess Heitman, president of Christmas Ships, Inc.
Chief Jay Tappan with Columbia Fire & Rescue said those on board tried to get a rescue ring to Sullivan but he was unable to grab it.
“We heard the yelling and screaming of ‘man overboard’ so we scrambled immediately,” said Heitman.
Sullivan, who was not wearing a life jacket, was last seen about 100 feet downstream from the docks where he was reportedly struggling in the cold water. According to Tappan, the air temperature at the time was below freezing and there was ice on the docks and area roads.
Several rescue boats and a Coast Guard helicopter responded and they spent hours trying to find Sullivan, but the search was called off overnight due to the extremely cold conditions and swift current. The search continued on Sunday but Sullivan was not found.