Search now shifts to finding diver’s body

The search for a missing diver that went missing off South Beach has been shifted to a recovery operation, according to the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.

July 24, 2012 8:04 pm
A Coast Guard helicopter hovers over the Seattle Fire Department fire boat Leschi as divers search the waters off South Beach for a missing diver Tuesday.
A Coast Guard helicopter hovers over the Seattle Fire Department fire boat Leschi as divers search the waters off South Beach for a missing diver Tuesday.

The search for a diver that went missing off South Beach has been shifted to a recovery operation, according to the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.

The Coast Guard and the Bainbridge and Seattle fire departments started the search for a missing diver from the Department of Natural Resources off the south end of Bainbridge Island at approximately 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Authorities have not identified the missing diver.

Searchers no longer expect to find the diver alive. The Bainbridge Island Fire Department reported on its Facebook page that the operation had shifted into recovery mode shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.