On Sunday, the Coast Guard responded to a report that the crab boat Ethel May was sinking. A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted two crew members from a life raft that evening during rough weather. A search for Fitch was suspended Monday evening.
The Coast Guard said search crews have found debris from the boat in Willapa Bay that indicates the vessel broke apart. Officials are investigating what caused the 46-foot boat to sink near the Willapa Bay entrance.
A Family and community in Washington is still searching for Bryson Fitch, a crabber who went missing after a crane boat sank. Two others were rescued by the Coast Guard Sunday.
Fitch's sister, Kelsea Broddy, told KGW-TV that her brother had made to the raft with the two others but that he disappeared when a large wave crashed over them.
"He’s still out there and we wanna bring him home and we need people to help us search," Broddy said.
She said Fitch is married with three young children.
As of Wednesday, the names of the two survivors had not been released.
Dungeness crab is Washington state’s most valuable commercial seafood harvest.