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Efforts to locate the missing man could be narrowed down by locating the rowboat, said Const. Monika Terragni, who described the boat as blue, between 14 and 16 feet long, made of fibreglass and with a square back.

The Comox Valley RCMP is trying to find a missing 37-year-old man who went out in a rowboat in the middle of the night.

At 7:30 a.m. Friday, police received a report of an empty rowboat floating in the ocean near Royston. The Joint Search and Rescue Centre was notified and launched crews to check the area, but they failed to find the boat.

Later in the morning, police received a report that Christopher Mitchell was missing after taking a rowboat from his property into the ocean.

The JRCC then launched additional crews and a more exhaustive search took place with the coast guard auxiliary and ground search and rescue.

The man and the boat had not been located by Friday evening.

“The efforts to locate the missing man could be narrowed down by locating the rowboat,” said Const. Monika Terragni, who described the boat as blue, between 14 and 16 feet long, made of fibreglass and with a square back.

Anyone who has seen Mitchell or the blue rowboat is asked to call the Comox Valley RCMP at 250 338-1321 and refer to file 2023-3957.