Man missing in Port Royal Sound is experienced diver and shark tooth hunter, friend says
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4 p.m. Thursday with the latest information.
The search for a missing scuba diver in the Port Royal Sound continued into its third day Thursday, a spokesperson with the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Family and friends identified the missing diver as 49-year-old Alan Devier of Charleston.
“Alan is an experienced diver, and he’s been a fossil shark tooth hunter for years,” friend Michelle Meissen said. “He’s been diving for quite a long time. It’s not something that’s new to him, so this was surprising.”
Meissen, founder of the Palmetto Ocean Conservancy, worked with Devier frequently, including when he donated shark teeth he’d collected to use in an educational program for kids.
She said Devier knew the area well and donated fossils to local programs regularly because he is passionate about education people on the Lowcountry’s waters and their importance to the environment.
Devier’s Facebook says he is a charter captain and blackwater fossil diving guide/expert at Holy City Divers.
The search
Several law enforcement agencies have been involved in the “search and rescue effort” since Tuesday afternoon, when the Devier was first reported missing.
A boater in the area called 911 around 6:15 p.m., saying a scuba diver — later identified as Devier — went into the water around 3:45 p.m. and never came back to the boat, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Bob Bromage.
The Sheriff’s Office immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard, which sent a helicopter to help search, and boats were also searching for the diver.
The Sheriff’s Office, Beaufort County Marine Rescue Squadron, Beaufort County Water Search & Rescue, Fripp Island Fire and Rescue, Fripp Island Sea Rescue, Parris Island Fire and Emergency Services, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Coast Guard Air Facility Charleston, Coast Guard Station Tybee Island, Coast Guard Cutter Pompano, Coast Guard Auxiliary and other volunteers are involved in the search.
Anyone with information can call the Coast Guard Sector Charleston Command Center at 843-740-7050.
Last month, two divers were rescued from the Port Royal Sound the morning after they went missing. The divers were men, ages 49 and 66.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 9:40 AM.
