A crew member on a fishing vessel west of Wrangell Island was found dead Saturday morning. Wrangell Search and Rescue responded to the scene after the Coast Guard was notified around 5:47 am Saturday.
Charles Richards of Seattle was found unresponsive in his bunk by a crew member. He was 28 years old.
Richards was taken to the Wrangell clinic where he was pronounced dead and was transferred to the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage for autopsy. The cause of death is not known.
Owner of the Odin, Mark Severson, said his son Cameron recently took over operating the boat.
“I just did my stint and my son had taken over for me. And, that was their first outing without me,” said Severson.
Richards, who went by Rhett, went to college with Severson’s son.
“That’s how he came to get on the boat. I needed a guy, and he filled in. He was a great hard worker and a happy go-lucky kid,” said Severson.
The vessel was southwest of Wrangell in Anita Bay when the call came in.
“One of the guys came down when Cameron was starting up the machinery and said Rhett was not moving. So they started doing CPR and called the coast guard right away,” said Severson.
He said Wrangell search and rescue arrived about 40 minutes after the call.
