On a winter afternoon in January 1998, 55-year-old Jin S. Chin left Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach alone on his 23-foot Robalo, the Formosa, for a planned three-hour fishing trip near shore. When he failed to return, a neighbor reported him missing and a search began. The next morning about 10:00 a.m. a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 located the Formosa roughly 40 miles east of Virginia Beach. The boat’s engine was running and it was moving slowly. A crewman from the commercial fishing vessel Grumpy boarded, shut down and secured the boat.

Everything aboard appeared in order: fishing gear and other items remained, and there were no signs the boat had capsized, been swamped, or shown evidence of a struggle. Jin Chin himself was not on board. The Coast Guard responded with an extensive aerial search using the C-130 and an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter but by sunset no trace of Chin was found and the official search was suspended. No medical history was reported that would explain an accidental fall overboard.

What did anyone in the Lynnhaven Inlet boating community notice about the Formosa or Jin Chin that January day?