Cops: Kayak found on Southold shore, no sign of kayaker

Two days after a kayaker from Beijing went missing on the Long Island Sound near Milford, Conn., police believe they found his craft washed ashore in Southold Tuesday.

Police said there was no sign of kayaker Fengquan Guan - and an aerial search of the area by a Suffolk County police aviation unit also proved negative, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

The Coast Guard earlier suspended its search for Guan, who has been missing since Sunday at 2 p.m.

The search was re-opened Tuesday morning after the boat's discovery but suspended again Tuesday at 8 p.m.

In a news release Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said that the person who reported Guan missing Sunday - a friend he was visiting in Milford, who owned the kayak - verified with the Coast Guard that the kayak found Tuesday was the same one used by Guan.

Guan, of Beijing, who was described as wearing a black sweater, black jeans, a dark gray life jacket with black trim and using a gray two-person kayak, was reported missing at Sunday. The friend notified Milford police after Guan failed to return as scheduled from a Sunday morning trip.

Weather at the time was reported at 2- to 3-foot seas, wind gusts to 23 mph and a water temperature of about 50 degrees, officials said.

Rescuers participating in the search included crews from the Coast Guard Station New Haven, the Coast Guard Cutter Sailfish, the Milford and New Haven police departments, the fire departments of Milford, West Haven, East Haven, Branford and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Rescue helicopter and jet crews from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and the Suffolk County Police aviation unit also conducted aerial searches Sunday.

The decision to suspend a search is based on several factors, including the effect of air and water temperatures upon a person; wind and sea conditions; clothing and personal protective equipment worn; and build of the person.