Longtime doctor found dead

Community turns out to search for outdoorsman

By Ruth Case

Valdez Vanguard

            Longtime local doctor and avid outdoorsman Andrew Embick was found dead near Dock Point after officials and community members launched a two-day search for him.

            Embick, 52, had planned a rowing trip to Gold Creek, a few miles from Valdez, according to the Valdez Police Department, and launched his custom-built, black rowing scull from Dock Point beach around 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday.

            People canoeing saw what they assumed was a kayak with a person sleeping in it from a distance. When they returned about a half hour later, they saw the empty boat drifting and alerted police, Valdez police chief Joe Michaud said in a press conference with statewide media.

            “The rowing scull is larger than a kayak, with a couple of wings on the sides, but it looks like a kayak from a distance,” Michaud said. “It’s an extremely stable boat, made for ocean-going in rough water.”

            Michaud estimated that the boat had drifted about a half-mile to a mile. It was found upright, with the oars in the oarlocks and no water in the cockpit, indicating that the vessel had not capsized.

            Binoculars in a plastic case in the cockpit was the only item found aboard the rowing scull.

            A search and rescue began around noon on Wednesday, with the police and fire departments, Alaska State Troopers, U.S. Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol and numerous community volunteers combing the Valdez arm area.

            The search continued on Thursday, with local pilots and boaters assisting in the search effort, and began at low tide at 7:30 a.m. Friday.

            A local man searching the Dock Point area in a kayak discovered Embick’s body at about 8:30 a.m. Friday in about two to three feet of water near Harbor Cove, a place near the Hotel Hill area.

            “The area was searched probably three times prior to discovering the body, but this time we went out at low tide, a lower tide than normal even,” said Michaud. “With the glacial silt in the water, visibility can be about 12 inches.”

            High tides in the area range from six to eight feet, he said. At the time of the initial report, conditions were calm with winds about one or two knots.

Michaud said that Embick was not wearing a personal flotation device. His body was recovered, taken to Valdez Community Hospital and later transported to Anchorage for an autopsy.

“Right now we’re calling it an unattended death,” Michaud said. “There was nothing found to indicate foul play.”

However, Michaud refused to speculate on the cause or manner of death. He said that more information would be released after the autopsy results are received at the end of the week.

“I want to thank the search participants,” he said. “There was such an outpouring of kayakers and private pilots and community help.”

No searchers were injured during the search and rescue, he said.