< Back to front page Text size – +

Authorities search for missing boater in Merrimack River

E-mail|Link June 25, 2009 06:16 PM

By Globe Staff

The search continues today for a New Hampshire man who disappeared after a 37-foot pleasure craft with three others aboard crashed into the north jetty in Salisbury while entering the mouth of the Merrimack River Wednesday night.

The motorboat began taking on water at 10 p.m. The Coast Guard plucked one of the boaters from the water and rescued two others from a nearby jetty.

Seth Coellner, 36, of Kensington, N.H. was still missing late this afternoon. Mark Baillargeon, 51, of Newmarket, N.H., was taken to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport with a back injury; Jacob Clark, 30, of Hampton, N.H., and Russell Hilliard, 50, of Hampton Falls., N.H., were uninjured, the Essex district attorney's office said.

A Coast Guard helicopter flew to the scene this morning to join the search, which included state and environmental police. The mouth of the Merrimack River forms the border between the town of Salisbury and the city of Newburyport, about 40 miles north of Boston.

The district attorney's office said all of the circumstances of the accident are under investigation by state and environmental police, Salisbury police, and the Coast Guard. Visibility was reportedly extremely poor last night, the office noted.

No charges were filed as of late afternoon.