Missing mariner is man who survived 12 days lost at sea

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER

Associated Press

HONOLULU — A Hawaii fisherman is missing again, just a few months after surviving 12 days lost at sea.

Ron Ingraham was rescued in December after putting out a mayday on Thanksgiving saying he was in danger of sinking. He had been trying to sail from Molokai island, where he lives, to Lanai island, where he often goes fishing. During the voyage, he got caught in a storm, which knocked out his engine and pummeled his boat with 20-foot waves. The Coast Guard launched a massive search and he was thought to be dead, until he was able to use a wire hanger to get a signal sent from his battered radio. That led to his rescue by crew members on the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton.

He returned to land to share an ordeal that involved eating raw fish to stay alive. He reconnected with a son in Missouri he hadn’t spoken to in years.

Now the Coast Guard is searching for him again, after the fishing boat he was on ran aground on rocks early Friday about a mile west of Lanai.

The man he was on the boat with, Kenny Corder, was rescued and taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr.

Corder told the Coast Guard they didn’t have any lifejackets and were clinging to a life ring, Carr said. Corder swam back to the boat to retrieve their emergency position indicating radio beacon.

“When he came back to the life ring, Mr. Ingraham was gone,” Carr said.

The Coast Guard notified Ingraham’s son in Missouri, Zakary Ingraham, said the son’s wife, Katie Jarrett. “This is absolutely insane,” she said.

Meanwhile, another man was also missing from a separate boat after he reported Thursday his vessel was flooding about 10 miles south of Honolulu Harbor. The Coast Guard searched overnight for the mariner and then suspended the search on Friday afternoon.