UPDATED: Wife of missing kayaker from Kill Devil Hills asks for help in search

Alex Rush of Kill Devil Hills. [Photo courtesy Kateryna Rush]

Kateryna Rush, wife of missing Kill Devil Hills kayaker Alexander Rush, is asking for help in the search for her husband, who vanished over the weekend in the Croatan Sound between the Dare County mainland and Roanoke Island.

Rush is hoping local mariners and photographers with drones can help search the area where 26-year-old Alex Rush went missing while fishing in his kayak Saturday around 7 p.m. near the William B. Umstead Bridge, also known as the Old Manns Harbor Bridge.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended their search but N.C. Wildlife and N.C. Marine Patrol have resumed the search today and planned to deploy side scan sonar and begin searching the west side of the Old Mann’s Harbor Bridge with assistance of Gates County and Hertford County Emergency Management.

Kateryna Rush contacted Dare County 911 on Sunday after her husband failed to return home. His vehicle was found at the N.C. Wildlife access next to the bridge.

N.C. Wildlife Law Enforcement Sgt. Johnathan Beardsley said Rush’s kayak was found overturned approximately nine miles southeast of the bridge by a commercial fisherman.

Rush is described as being 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 220 pounds, and was wearing gray waders and a burgandy sweatshirt. It was not known if Rush had a life jacket on board or was wearing one at any point.

Alex Rush of Kill Devil Hills. [Photo courtesy Kateryna Rush]

The water temperature in the Croatan Sound has hovered around 60 degrees over the last several days.

Kateryna and Alex Rush are newlyweds, married on Oct. 2. Rush said her husband is very fit, a good swimmer and knows how to use a kayak. She said she’s believing in miracles right now.

“I strongly believe he made it out to the shore,” Rush said. “I believe he made it to the land and he’s alive.”

Beardsley said authorities are asking the community to be on the lookout for Alex Rush and to contact Dare County Communications or N.C. Wildlife with any information.

“N.C. Wildlife would like to take this time to encourage all boaters to wear their life jacket when on the water and to monitor weather conditions before leaving shore,” Beardsley said.

Dare Central Communications can be reached at 252-473-3444, and N.C. Wildlife Communications at 800-662-7137.

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