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Coast Guard suspends search for Homer woman in Icy Strait

An U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter flying in Kodiak.
Brian Venua
/
KMXT
An U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter flying in Kodiak.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for Lauren LeFree, 37, of Homer on Sunday night. LeFree went missing in Icy Strait on the north end of Chichagof Island west of Juneau.

The Coast Guard received a report that a woman in her 30s presumably fell from the fishing vessel Faithful last Saturday while it was moving from Gull Cove to Mud Bay.

Chief Petty Officer Travis Magee said the woman was reportedly not wearing a lifejacket.

They suspended the search after more than 24 hours. Two Coast Guard cutters, an MH-60 helicopter from Air Station Sitka and more than 10 good Samaritan vessels searched about 233 square miles.

Jamie Diep is a reporter/host for KBBI from Portland, Oregon. They joined KBBI right after getting a degree in music and Anthropology from the University of Oregon. They’ve built a strong passion for public radio through their work with OPB in Portland and the Here I Stand Project in Taipei, Taiwan.Jamie covers everything related to Homer and the Kenai Peninsula, and they’re particularly interested in education and environmental reporting. You can reach them at jamie@kbbi.org to send story ideas.