The state medical examiner’s office has positively identified remains discovered Dec. 28 along the Pamlico Sound shoreline off the Dare County mainland as missing kayaker Alexander Rush.
According to a statement from N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Law Enforcement Sgt. Johnathan Beradsley, the remains were found by a duck hunter near Point Peter Road between Manns Harbor and Stumpy Point around 3 p.m. that day.
The Dare County Sheriffs Office, N.C. Wildlife Law Enforcement, Dare County EMS and Stumpy Point Volunteer Fire Department worked together to recover the body, Beardsley said.
Beardsley said the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office in Greenville positively identified the remains Monday.
Rush, 26, of Kill Devil Hills, was found about 10 miles south of his last known location after launching his kayak at the N.C. Wildlife boat ramp adjacent to the William B. Umstead Bridge in Manns Harbor, where his vehicle was found the next evening. His kayak was found overturned in the sound on Dec. 7.
The U.S. Coast Guard, N.C. Marine Patrol, Dare County Sheriff’s Office, emergency management personnel from Gates and Hertford counties, and other agencies, along with countless volunteers, combed the waters and shoreline between Roanoke Island and the Dare County mainland for three days before the search was called off.
