The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office searched Friday for a possible missing boater on Nokay Lake, east of Brainerd.
Capt. Scott Goddard of the sheriff's office said the boat and water division and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources were searching for a 54-year-old Brainerd man. The DNR and later the Minnesota State Patrol assisted from the air, although the man was not located by 7:30 p.m. Friday. Officials withheld the name of the missing man while attempting to contact family members.
Goddard said responders would continue the search at daybreak Saturday.
The sheriff's office received two reports before 8 a.m. Friday-one of an empty boat on Nokay Lake and a second requesting a welfare check on a man who didn't show up for work. Goddard said the employee is the man who is the registered owner of the boat.
Goddard said it appears the man was fishing, but now is unaccounted for. About five search and rescue boats were searching the area east of an island on the 696-acre lake.
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The sheriff's office closed the boat access to the lake on Nokay Lake Road while responders search for the Brainerd man. Goddard encouraged motorists to use an alternative route if they can.
