Officers recover body of missing sailor

The Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Office and Wahkiakum County Coroner's Office on Wednesday afternoon recovered the body believed to be that of a man who fell off his sailboat on October 10.

According to a statement released October 20 by Coroner Dan Bigelow, the body was recovered in the afternoon on the south shore of Coffee Pot Island after having been reported by an area boater. The body matches the description of the missing man, Arlie M. Hoefling of Aurora, Ore.; it also carried his identification. His family was notified later that day. An autopsy was scheduled for October 22.

Agencies involved in the search and recovery operations included the sheriffs' departments of Wahkiakum, Clatsop and Columbia counties; the US Coast Guard; the Clatsop County Medical Examiner's Office and the coroner offices of Wahkiakum and Cowlitz counties.