ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, Va. – Officials believe a body that washed up on Tyler’s Beach in Isle of Wight County on Sunday may be that of one of the two missing boaters that had disappeared in Surry County during a winter storm in January.
Law enforcement remained on the scene Sunday afternoon, WTKR reported.
The men, who were identified by family and friends as Kyle Englehart and Austin Savage, were reported missing after their 16-foot john boat never returned to the Jamestown Yacht Marina on Jan. 3.
A Virginia State Police helicopter discovered the hunters’ capsized boat on Jan. 4, but the hunters have not yet been located.
The Coast Guard, along with Virginia State Police, the James City County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, used a K9 Unit and a drone in the search, which was suspended on January 5.
“Austin and Kyle are very hands on and very experienced hunters and boaters,” Austin’s brother Nathan Savage said. “Something doesn’t add up because they’re so experienced.”
Englehart and Savage went out Wednesday night to repair a broken duck blind before the winter storm hit Virginia.
When they did not return, workers at the marina notified the Coast Guard. That was at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Their empty boat was discovered three hours later, near Hogg Island, Coast Guard spokesperson Corinne Zilnicki said.
Austin Savage, 20, is from Hampton and worked maintenance at Varina High School.
Kyle, 29, graduated from Varina High School and lives in Charles City County where he worked as a farmer, according to friends and his social media accounts.
The night Englehart and Savage disappeared, a massive winter storm hit the Hampton Roads region of Virginia dumping snow and keeping temperatures in the teens.
