Michael Wayne Wheeler, 27, disappeared in early March 1989 while aboard the 108-foot longline halibut vessel Ocean Hope II, which vanished from the Shelikof Strait after heavy weather. The last communication from the boat was the night of March 2, when the crew sought refuge in Portage Bay. Along with Wheeler, three other crewmen—skipper Jack White, 33, of Kodiak; Dennis Frye, 26; and Daniel Tullar, 26, of Kodiak—were lost and there were no survivors.

An extensive search recovered only a single life ring; minimal wreckage and no survivors left the exact circumstances unknown. The prevailing account is that the Ocean Hope II succumbed to severe weather and that the men were presumed dead in a boating accident. The disappearance affected communities from Kodiak to Wheeler’s hometown of Anacortes, Washington.

Does anyone have memories of the Ocean Hope II, its crew, or information about the March 1989 search that could shed more light on what happened?