Search groups have continued looking for a paddleboarder in the waters off West Quoddy Head in Lubec for more than two weeks without success. Harold Dean Jackson III, known as Dean, of Asheville, North Carolina, was last seen the night of July 3, although he was not reported missing until July 6.
The U.S. Coast Guard received a call that day from the county’s Regional Communications Center about a person missing near West Quoddy Head. Coast Guard Station Eastport and Maine Marine Patrol vessels then conducted an extensive search for about four hours around the headland down to the former Coast Guard station and around the Duck Island ledges, and searches by foot were conducted along the Campobello shoreline.
According to Matthew Bartnick, public affairs officers for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, there was no confirmation from anyone about Jackson entering the water. “He was last seen entering a residence and going to sleep,” Bartnick said. He said that earlier on July 3 he was on the water with a friend. The friend reported they left the water, went to bed and when he woke up the next day Jackson was gone.
According to Chief Deputy Michael Crabtree, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office also received the missing person report on July 6 and contacted the Maine Marine Patrol. He said other agencies that have been searching include the Maine State Police and Maine Forest Service. In addition, Canadian authorities were contacted, and Crabtree said those search-and-rescue groups have been looking around Campobello. The search has been concentrated around West Quoddy Head and has continued on an almost daily basis.
The Marine Patrol later asked the Down East Emergency Medicine Institute (DEEMI), an all-volunteer search group based in Orono, to help, and it sent three drone teams beginning the week of July 15 to the area. DEEMI uses high-resolution drones for search and rescue and has been trying to get a fixed-wing airplane to assist but has been hampered by the fog. The drone footage from each day is then reviewed the following night. Along with searching the West Quoddy Head area, DEEMI has gone into Cobscook Bay and sent ground teams with dogs to Campobello, according to Richard Bowie, the group’s director. Its teams have used local whale-watching boats to assist the search, and Crabtree noted that fishermen also have been alerted so they can help with the search.
After Jackson was reported missing, his vehicle, wallet, cellphone and dog were found at the boathouse near West Quoddy Station, where Jackson had been staying. His small white SUV with a trailer attached was found backed up to the boathouse “ready to roll,” said Bill Clark, owner of West Quoddy Station, the former Coast Guard station on West Quoddy Head. His dog has now been taken in by a friend of the family.
Later in the search, a paddleboard that Crabtree said searchers believe is connected to Jackson was found near Upper Duck Pond on Campobello, which is across the Lubec Channel from West Quoddy Station. “The information we’ve received indicates he was on a paddleboard,” but there is no confirmed report that was the case. Bowie said the inflatable paddleboard did not have a fin on the bottom, meaning he was “skating on the water.”
Crabtree said that there is no evidence of Jackson being suicidal or of foul play at this point, but “you never rule anything out.”
An experienced kayaker
Clark related that Dean’s father, Harold Jackson Jr., had purchased the former Coast Guard station property in the 1990s after he had moved to Lubec, where he served as a selectman for a period of time. Later he sold much of the property to Clark, but he retained the boathouse and land around it when he moved. He was living in South Carolina at the time of his death in 2022. Clark said that Dean Jackson would sometimes come up to Lubec during the warmer months and stay at the boathouse. This year he came on July 2 with a friend who was helping him work on the building.
Clark said he has known Jackson for about 25 years, although not that well. “Dean was a very serious person with a good sense of humor,” he noted. His father was “a unique personality, and as a result, Dean as the youngest son was more like his mother Amy, who is a very kind soul.” When he was young he had a severe stutter, but he worked on it and it mostly disappeared. Clark said that Jackson “kept to himself” and “did things alone. He was independent and was brought up that way.” Clark added, “He did not and would not have one mean bone in his body.”
He said Jackson, who was 46, was an experienced kayaker and in good condition, but he never saw him with a paddleboard. “He understood the waters around here,” Clark said, noting that Jackson was “not a risk-taker. I’ve only known one person who’s kayaked out of here and came back, and that was Dean Jackson.” However, he noted that Jackson was unlikely to carry necessary safety equipment like a personal flotation device. “I don’t think he would have gone out prepared as the Coast Guard would advise.”
Second loss in a year
The loss of Jackson is the second in less than a year of recreational boaters who left from West Quoddy Head. Last summer, an Augusta man, Martin Spahn, had headed out in a kayak from Lubec to cross over to Grand Manan on Aug. 4. His body was found three days later off Raccoon Point, Campobello.
At the time of Spahn’s death, Ryan Koroknay, incident management division chief for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, had stressed the importance of filing a float plan with a family member or trusted friend, so that if someone is reported overdue the Coast Guard can develop a search area in a more timely manner. He also pointed to the importance of having all of the necessary safety equipment and flotation devices, along with monitoring the weather conditions and water temperature, and kayaking or boating within one’s skill level. In addition, he notes that the area has strong currents.
Koroknay also asked that mariners expeditiously report any unmanned vessels that are adrift, so that a search can quickly begin.
If anyone has information that could help with the search of Jackson, who was wearing a red shirt and gray shorts, they are urged to contact the sheriff’s office at 207-255-8308. Bowie pointed out, “These volunteers don’t like to give up,” while Crabtree stated, “We’ll continue to keep looking until hopefully we find a resolution.”
