Search in Winyah Bay for Man Continues
By Kelly Marshall Fuller, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
May 9–GEORGETOWN — Friends of a missing boater held out hope Monday that the avid outdoorsman was still alive on one of the small islands in Winyah Bay.
William H. Richardson III, 42, who was thought to have fallen overboard from an 18-foot fiberglass pleasure boat, was the subject of an intense search that involved the Winyah Rescue Squad, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and Georgetown Coast Guard.
There was no sign of Richarson late Monday afternoon, DNR officials said.
Meanwhile, former Georgetown County Planning Director Carol Coleman said she was shocked to hear Monday that her longtime friend was missing.
Coleman said that she had known Richardson for several years.
He was a world traveler who enjoyed hunting and fishing, she said.
His family owns the Palmetto Loom & Reed company in Greenville, Coleman said.
Richardson works at the plant, which makes parts for textile machinery.
An employee at the plant said Richardson’s family had traveled to Georgetown County.
“If he isn’t hurt, he would have the ability to survive,” Coleman said. “He has the survival skills.”
Richardson is not married and has three sisters, Coleman said.
His family lives in Greenville.
Richardson went missing Saturday evening.
Richardson and his friend Theodore Watson, 44, of Greenville, were returning from a fishing trip when Watson’s boat possibly struck a sandbar near Marsh Island, a remote area that is part of the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Preserve.
Marsh Island is near Mud Bay, an area just north of the shipping channel in Winyah Bay.
The search for Richardson began at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, said Jeff Price, spokesman for the Charleston Coast Guard.
Swift currents were reported in that location Saturday afternoon.
Watson, who also was tossed from the boat, was not injured, said Capt. Scott Powell of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
Watson swam back to the empty boat and called for help, Price said.
The empty boat went ashore on Marsh Island.
Watson tried to start the boat again in order to search for Richardson.
When he couldn’t, he called the Coast Guard for assistance, Price said.
The water temperature Saturday night was about 68 degrees, which would have given Richardson about 17 hours to survive.
The men were not wearing lifejackets when the incident happened.
A Coast Guard helicopter flew over Winyah Bay this week, while boats staffed by wildlife officers and sheriff’s deputies were used on the water.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, McCullough said. Charges have not been filed, he said.
The incident could become the second fatal boating incident in Georgetown County this year.
A Myrtle Beach man died last month after he jumped from his boat near Butler Island.
Kurt Holden, 43, was trying to save his dog, Yeager, from drowning, when he vanished under the waves.
Holden’s body was recovered April 21, several days after he disappeared.
Contact KELLY MARSHALL FULLER at 357-9187 or kfuller@thesunnews.com [mailto:kfuller@thesunnews.com].
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