Missing kayak recovered in East Providence

By: Chloe Leshner

cleshner@abc6.com

@cleshnerabc6

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Less than 24 hours after the Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing man in the Providence River, first responders recovered his kayak. Firefighters recovered that bright orange kayak off of Squantum Point earlier today and when they found it, it was completely encased in ice.

East Providence fire officials bring an orange kayak to shore Sunday morning, recovering it from the water near the East Bay Bike Path.

"It was pretty much encased in ice so we had to muster up a response for a cold water rescue which involves multiple companies from the fire department and we send a crew of 2 in, donned with ice rescue gear and they had to go in and recover the kayak," says Lieutenant Brian Poland with the East Providence Fire Department.

Environmental Police tell ABC 6 News family members of Michael Perry have confirmed that this kayak was his. The 46 year–old went missing Friday evening while kayaking in the Providence River.

They had to break the kayak free from the ice nearly 6 miles away from where Perry started in Warwick, still no sign of Perry.

"We didn’t find anything else, we just found the canoe in the water and we were able to bring it to shore," says Poland.

The recovery comes not even 24 hours after the Coast Guard suspended its search for Perry, saying it was unlikely they would find him alive. At that point they had not seen a single trace of Perry or his kayak after searching by land, water and air.

"Surviving in 32 degree water is very difficult and the amount of time that we searched really goes beyond how long someone can survive in that type of water condition," Captain Richard Schultz with the Coast Guard said Saturday.

Environmental officials say they are still searching in the area for Perry’s body. Their investigation continues.

(C) WLNE/ABC 6 2018