Second weekend of searching for missing duck hunter Tyler Doyle continues Saturday

Crews with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will be out until sunset Saturday searching for missing boater Tyler Doyle, the agency said in a statement Friday.

“The ocean has been mostly calm in the mornings with seas building after lunch time and this pattern should continue tomorrow,” department spokesman Greg Lucas said in an email.

Lucas has said the agency won’t stop looking for Doyle, who was last seen Jan. 26 near a Little River jetty. His jon boat sank after taking on water, authorities have said.

Brunswick County’s big boat, which was out for maintenance issues, will also be used in the search Saturday, Lucas said in an email late Friday.

Officers spent Friday running search patterns north from the Little River jetties to the Holden Beach area, according to Lucas. He added that North Carolina’s marine and wildlife crews scanned the ocean from shore using binoculars before calling it quits.

There were also officers from Brunswick County and other agencies checking the beach as soon as the sun came up Friday morning, Lucas added.

The search, which spans across numerous state agencies, included crews in the air, on land and in the water as hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement agencies continue to look for the missing duck hunter.

This past week, a variety of resources and technology have been deployed — from bloodhounds and helicopters to GPS tracking and sonar probes.

A boat crew with the North Myrtle Beach Rescue Squad’s Water Rescue Team also went out Friday to continue helping with the search.