New details in search for missing kayaker

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla.- There’s a new lead in the search for missing kayaker, Andrew Barber. FWC tells WINK News, an image that matches the size and shape of a body has been found in water off the Sanibel Causeway.

While the coast guard has suspended its efforts, late into the night, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and FWC are staying out on the water to continue searching by boat.  Meanwhile, divers can only wait until daylight to see if the sonar image is in fact the body of Andrew barber.

Late Sunday night, sonar technology picked up an image in the water off the Sanibel Causeway.

Florida Fish and Wildlife tell WINK News, this is the second or third hit they’ve had using sonar, but those images have turned out to be rocks or logs.

Search crews pinpointed the image in the area Andrew Barber disappeared Friday night.

Sunday night, the coast guard suspended its search after combing 1,900 nautical miles, but Lee County deputies and FWC are not giving up.

“We will not suspend our search until there is closure or until we find a body, but until that happens FWC will continue to search for him,” said FWC officer Stuart Spoede.

Barber and his friend, Kyle Woolwine, were fishing Friday night, when they flipped their kayak. Woolwine says they tried to get back in, and empty the water out. They couldn’t and abandoned the kayak.

Barber was caught in the current and didn’t make it to shore. Woolwine was able to swim to safety, neither were wearing a life jacket.

Saturday, crews found the kayak three miles off shore along with barber’s backpack.

Today, barbers mom joined the search on a kayak and his brother, who’s a pilot, search by air.  WINK News is told the two were drinking the night they went out fishing.