Missing man found deceased on Whidbey beach
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, May 26, 2026
A woman taking a leisurely stroll down a Whidbey beach on Friday discovered a dead man who had been missing since the prior day.
The missing 65-year-old Chimacum resident, David Perelli, was located deceased at 2 p.m. on May 22 at a beach near Central Whidbey, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, bringing a 17-hour-long search to an end.
Around 7:45 p.m. the day before, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a report of an unmanned and untethered 12-foot dinghy with a possible man overboard near Point Wilson, as stated in a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard. He was last seen on the vessel earlier that evening.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Salish Rescue, the Jefferson and Island County Sheriff’s Offices, among others, participated in the search and recovery efforts, according to the release. Even the Royal Canadian Air Force deployed its CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft for five hours on Friday morning, Captain Pedram Mohyeddin, a public affairs officer, told the News-Times.
Crews searched for the missing man via plane, boat and drone, covering over 715 miles in 17 hours, according to the release.
Conditions for the search weren’t ideal, yielding just a 5-mile visibility, states the release. Alden Rohrer, the lead trainer from Salish Rescue, confirmed that the weather was not very conducive to the volunteer maritime search and rescue team’s efforts due to fog. Still, the organization’s vessel, the “Badger,” has the unique ability to operate in shallow waters and tidal areas, Rohrer said to the News-Times. Hailing from Port Townsend, its crew also has local expertise to search in “relatively inaccessible portions of the search area,” Rohrer said, like Kilsut Harbor and Fort Flagler.
The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast, which someone responded to and towed the vessel to Port Townsend Marina, according to the release. There was no visible damage to the vessel, Brandon Przygocki, the public information officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, wrote to the News-Times.
“Every search represents a person, a family and loved ones waiting for answers,” Cmdr. Daniel Delgado, Coast Guard Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator for Sector Puget Sound, said in a press release. “Though this search ended in heartbreaking tragedy, the dedication shown by responders throughout the day and night reflects the deep responsibility we feel to bring answers home to loved ones.”
The man was found dead by a beach walker on Whidbey Island and was recovered by the Island County Sheriff’s Office, according to the release.
Petty Officer Daylan Garlic, the public affairs specialist for the U.S. Coast Guard Northwest District, was overwhelmingly grateful for the shared teamwork of everyone who engaged in the search.
“So many people came together and searched for so many hours covering hundreds of miles, for a complete stranger — that’s astonishing to me,” he wrote in an email to the News-Times. “Everyone’s hard work allowed a family desperately searching for answers to get closure.”
The investigation is still underway.
