Kent Sawyer

Kent Sawyer, 87, missing since 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 1, 2026 has been found in the Mt. Woolard area of Orcas Island shortly before 1 pm. He is with EMS personnel.

Orcas Island Fire and Rescue conducted an intense search   Wednesday morning  with mutual aid from San Juan Island Fire, Lopez Island Fire, and Whatcom County Search and Rescue. Helicopter search operations by the Department of Homeland Security and the Navy began at 10:45 AM..

An air-scent search dog from Summit to Sound worked the Mt. Woolard area. The dog and handler are well marked. A second search dog from Skagit County was to arrive Wednesday  morning.

Community turnout at Wednesday morning’s 9 AM briefing at Station 21 on Orcas Island was excellent. Those volunteers were embedded with operations command staged on Mt. Woolard and actively assisted with the search.

San Juan County Sheriff’s office reminded people that private drone piloting is illegal during search and rescue operations. It poses a significant threat of injury or death to both ground and air crews. Please do not fly drones in the area.