A stolen 30-foot boat seen in Saratoga Passage near Langley has been turned over to its owner, authorities said Monday.
The Island County Sheriff’s Office Marine Safety Unit responded to a report of a boat adrift in the water between Camano Island and Langley at about 8 a.m. Sunday morning. The Coast Guard said the vessel had been reported stolen the night before from Lopez Island in San Juan County.
Island County deputies observed the boat between Camano Head and Gendey Island, closer to Gedney.
Investigators from Island and San Juan counties inspected the boat for evidence before returning the vessel to its owners.
Undersheriff Kelly Mauck of the Island County Sheriff’s Office said the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate the incident.
According to a report in the Islands Sounder, the boat was stolen from Spencer’s Landing Marina on Lopez Island at around 10 p.m. Saturday, May 15. The theft happened one day after a boat was 24-foot stolen was stolen in Friday Harbor.
That vessel, according to a press release from San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cumming, was found beached on Lopez Island on May 14. Police believe it was stolen from a home on the southern end of San Juan Island, and the home was also burglarized.
San Juan authorities have not determined if Colton Harris-Moore, a convicted felon who gained fame as the “barefoot bandit” after a series of burglaries in Western Washington, is responsible.