Going into this past weekend, public safety authorities in Wrightsville Beach faced the gruesome prospect of a missing swimmer emerging from the depths of the ocean and potentially washing ashore on a busy weekend day. However, after being reported missing on Tuesday afternoon, there still has been no recovery of Charles “Chuck” Kuebler, the 58-year-old Wilmington man believed to have disappeared while swimming off Wrightsville Beach.
Wrightsville Beach Fire Chief Glen Rogers said if Kuebler had drowned and was lying on the bottom of the ocean off Wrightsville Beach, he almost certainly would have emerged by now, adding that the likelihood that he was submerged just off the shore was shrinking every day.
Officials were worried that Kuebler would most likely emerge on Thursday or Friday, just as the weekend tourists began coming to the beach.
It could have been an uncomfortable sight for beachgoers, Rogers acknowledged, and said officials were prepared for a quick response should Kuebler emerge. Wrightsville Beach police got assistance from the Wilmington Police Department’s SABLE helicopter on Thursday, which scanned the waters just back from the shoreline, hoping to spot Kuebler if he was on the bottom.
But Kuebler is still missing on Monday, Aug. 1, almost a week after his initial disappearance. His car and belongings were found in Wrightsville Beach just a few hours after he was seen swimming in the ocean at a time before lifeguards took their stands. There were no further reports of Kuebler at Wrightsville Beach on July 26 until his family noticed he hadn’t arrived back later that afternoon, sparking a Tuesday evening search of the shoreline. The waters on the day of Kuebler’s disappearance were described by ocean rescue staff as fairly calm with low winds and calm waves not conducive to rip currents.
Rogers said police, the fire department and the ocean rescue lifeguards were briefed and prepared to recover Kuebler at first sighting, which included early morning patrols all week.
Rogers said that if Kuebler emerged from the ocean’s floor during the day, officials would have tried to shield the recovery efforts from sight of beach patrons with wrapping like that used to protect turtles nests, along with portable canopies. And while the goal would be to move the drowning victim off of the beach as soon as possible, Rogers said some time would have to be allowed for police to collect any relevant evidence from the scene. The Wrightsville Beach Police Department has said it was treating it as a missing person’s case, as chief Dan House said detectives spoke with the family last week.
When a body drowns, it can sink or float, depending upon conditions, Rogers said, but internal gases invariably will cause a submerged body to rise, usually within 48 hours. However, a floating body could be carried by currents great distances north or even south, and animals could also affect conditions of the body, Rogers said. The U.S. Coast Guard’s search for Kuebler extended as far as three miles offshore, officials said, but was ended on Wednesday, July 27 after two days of searching.
“There are a number of things that could have occurred,” Rogers said.
At a memorial service for Kuebler on Wrightsville Beach Thursday, his wife Rose said she would search Topsail Beach and other locations north through the assistance of a friend’s boat. After the service, she said she was “praying for a miracle” but also praying for “closure.”
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