Jacob Riley Veeser

UNALASKA, Alaska — An Escanaba who was working on a fishing vessel in Alaska has been found dead.

28-year-old Jacob Riley Veeser, an Escanaba native, began working on vessels in the Bering Sea about nine years ago. Most recently, he was serving as a crew member aboard F/V Lady Alaska, which was featured on “Deadliest Catch,” the Discovery Channel documentary series that showcases the conditions and challenges of fishing treacherous Alaskan waters.

On the evening of Friday, April 4, the Unalaska Police Department was called to the Lady Alaska. Crewman Veeser was missing and had last been seen around midnight walking down the G1 dock at UniSea, Inc.’s processing facility on Iliuliuk Harbor. The area belongs to the Fox Islands, part of the Aleutian Islands chain.

A winter storm was underway when Veeser went missing. Travel advisories were in effect Thursday night and Friday “due to high winds and blowing snow causing whiteout conditions” and “snow accumulation and slippery roads.” Temperature was in the 30s, and 12.7 inches fell on Friday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sustained wind speeds were between 30 and 40 mph, with gusts between 40 and 50, according to Weather Underground reports and measurements taken at Unalaska Airport Station.

The City of Unalaska’s Departments of Police, Fire and Ports and Harbors began a search for Veeser along the shoreline “based on prevailing winds, water weather and tides” at 6:53 p.m. AKDT (local time). They suspended their search at civil twilight, 10:25 p.m., according to a press release.

The next morning, Saturday, the hunt resumed around 8 a.m. with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers, and the Unalaska Police and Fire Departments. At 10:27 a.m., Veeser’s body was discovered in the water along Captains Bay Road, which begins about a mile south of UniSea, and recovered by the Unalaska Fire Department.

Veeser’s next of kin have been notified, as has the office of the State of Alaska Medical Examiner. The last release from the City of Unalaska on the matter said that the police department was following up on the incident.