PORTLAND, Ore. — A Franklin High School counselor and avid sailor from Clackamas has been found dead after he did not return from a weekend sail along the Oregon Coast.
Hoang Tran set off for a solo sail in his 26-foot boat Saturday afternoon, according to his daughter. He left from the harbor at Newport.
He did not return Saturday night as expected. The Coast Guard suspended its search around midnight Sunday.
On Tuesday, the United States Coast Guard stationed at Yaquina Bay took a report of a body found in the ocean. It was later confirmed to be Tran.
Tran was found wearing a flotation device, according to the Oregon State Police.
"He loves the outdoors. You know, Oregonian,” his daughter, Andrea, told KGW on Monday.
"So he's always outside. Always wants to get outside camping," she said. "It's just what he loves to do, you know? You can’t stop him. It's why he went."
The weather in Newport was sunny with a steady wind on Saturday. But the Oregon Coast can be fickle. The wind blew harder later in the day. Then, there were scattered thunderstorms overnight and into the morning.
When Tran failed to return, his family called the Coast Guard for help.
On Sunday afternoon, 11 miles north of Newport near Whale Cove, someone on the shore spotted debris in the water.
The Coast Guard confirmed the debris belonged to Tran's sailboat. It included a life jacket, a strobe light and part of a portable toilet.
At Franklin High School, where Tran was a counselor the last 16 years, students were told the troubling news that he was missing and administrators asked KGW not to talk with them on Monday.