Missing Lake Washington kayaker believed to be Bellevue man

Authorities believe a kayaker on Lake Washington missing since Saturday afternoon and presumed dead is a Bellevue man. The search will resume today.

The man, whose name was not released, was reported missing to police Saturday.

The search near the Newport Shores boat launch is being called a recovery, rather than a rescue, because there's little chance the kayaker could have survived in the cold Lake Washington water for very long, Coast Guard spokesman Nate Littlejohn said Sunday.

The search was called off late Saturday, then resumed at daylight Sunday with help from a Coast Guard helicopter crew, which spent several hours looking for the kayaker, Littlejohn said.

Searchers are using sonar to try to find the man's body. The search area is about 200 yards offshore, and the water is about 35 feet deep at that location, said Mercer Island police Cmdr. Leslie Burns.

On Saturday, a witness on shore saw someone fall out of a kayak near the Newport Shores boat launch, about 200 yards from land, Burns said. The witness called authorities about 3:45 p.m., after failing to see the person get back into the kayak.

Littlejohn said a life jacket was found floating in the area, suggesting that the kayaker wasn't wearing one. In cold Lake Washington, a person in the water "would only have a couple of minutes" to get to land before the water temperature would cause his or her arms and limbs to go numb, he said.