By KANDACE MCCOY
kandace.mccoy@register-news.com
MT. VERNON — A local couple is clinging to hope their nephew will be found after he went missing in the Pacific Ocean.
Janet and Jim Jines said they received word Wednesday afternoon from officials confirming their nephew, David Jines, 50, a former Mt. Vernon resident, was the missing boater rescue teams were looking for when a U.S. Coast Guard plane collided with a Marine Corps helicopter on Oct. 29 off the coast of California.
When the story hit the media earlier this week, the Jines thought the name of the missing boater — and his age — was too much of a coincidence.
“It was odd,” Janet Jines said. “That name of Jines and being 50 years old — we thought we better check it out.”
The search for Jines, who was living in a docked sailboat at Santa Catalina Island, Calif., began on Oct. 27.
“Strong gale-force winds came up in that area and David went to help his girlfriend, who also had a sailboat, secure her boat,” Janet Jines said. “After it was secure, he got in a skiff and was returning back to his boat. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.”
David moved to the King City as a young boy, Janet said, and attended Dr. Andy Hall School, Casey Middle School and graduated from Mt. Vernon Township High School. Janet and Jim helped raise him and they assisted authorities in identifying that he was the missing California boater from an old driver’s license of his Janet still had.
“It’s a shock,” Janet added. “It’s a really weird thing — he’s still out in the ocean somewhere. ... There was a lot of grief when we were called. We helped with the raising of him and he was a big part of our lives for years.”
Also weighing heavy on their hearts is the fact that nine other people are now gone as a result of the search for their nephew.
“It’s a terrible thing,” Jim Jines said. “They were searching for him and nine people died. It’s just a horrible thing.”
“We lost a son in 1978,” Janet said. “You go through the funeral and the burial, but with this, they’re just gone. He probably will never be recovered. It’s not a pleasant thought that someone you love is out in the ocean.”
Rescue teams were searching a 644-square-mile patch of ocean in waters about 2,000 feet deep for Jines prior to the mid-air collision between the U.S. Coast Guard plane and Marine Corps helicopter. That search, as well as the search for the missing nine crew members of the plane and helicopter, has since been called off and is now a recovery mission, the AP states.
Janet said authorities would contact them if, and when, Jines body is found.
“I feel sorry for everybody,” Jim Jines said. “It started out as helping out one lady and 10 people have been affected. I hope there is closure for everyone.”
