A man who was kayaking on the Columbia River near Hood River is missing and presumed dead, authorities said.
The Hood River Sheriff’s Office said it received reports shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday that a small boat was adrift in the river near a sandbar. The office’s marine patrol responded and found an empty fishing kayak with its trolling motor still running, officials said.
The kayak belonged to David Kalousdian of Hood River, the sheriff’s office later determined.
The sheriff’s office, Hood River police and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Police searched for Kalousdian for hours without success.
The search is continuing, but the sheriff’s office said at 7 p.m. Thursday that Kalousdian was presumed dead and “the mission is now considered a recovery operation.”
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