Lonie Charles Davis Jr., 47, went missing from the Columbia River in the early morning hours of November 23, 2025. He had been sleeping in a 16-foot open motorboat tied to one of two sailboats anchored near the mouth of the Skipanon River in Warrenton, Oregon, when the anchor line reportedly broke and the motorboat began drifting west toward the Columbia River bar.

At about 4 a.m. Davis called his girlfriend to report the broken anchor line. Roughly 45 minutes later he called again, more urgently, saying the boat had capsized and that he was in the water; that call ended when the line went dead. The United States Coast Guard found the capsized motorboat near Cape Disappointment, Washington, and the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office also conducted searches by boat and airplane. Davis was not located.

The circumstances underscore how quickly conditions at the river mouth can become life-threatening and leave many questions unanswered. Anyone with information about Davis or his movements that night is asked to come forward.