Coast Guard: Overturned Kayak Prompts Missing Person Search

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Coast Guard is looking for a possible missing person after a Good Samaritan reported an overturned kayak off of Plum Island on Monday afternoon.

A smallboat from the Coast Guard station in Montauk and a MH-60 Jayhawk helicoper crew from Air Station Cape Cod were immediately sent to the scene to search for a missing person.

The kayak was recovered and showed signs of being previously occupied -- with food and fishing poles found on board, the Coast Guard said. Whether someone was in the kayak at the time it overturned has not been confirmed.

We treat every case of an adrift vessel as a search and rescue case until we can confirm otherwise", said Cmdr. Andrew Ely, chief of Response for Sector Long Island Sound, said in a statement. "In this particular case, there are signs which point to the vessel being operated and not just washing off with the tide, which is a matter for concern."

According to the Coast Guard, the kayak is described as a 12-foot red Pelican kayak with an ID number CAZEP10662D515.