Raymond James Vincler

• Missing Since 02/11/2017
• Missing From Bering Sea, Alaska
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Native American
• Date of Birth 05/03/1984 (40)
• Age 32 years old
• Height and Weight 6'1, 195 pounds
• Associated Vehicle(s) 110-foot fishing vessel called the Destination (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Native American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Vincler is of Aleut descent. His nickname is Ray. He has Asian characters tattooed in black ink on his forearm, a colorful design tattooed on his upper arm and shoulder, and words tattooed in black ink across his collarbone; photos of his tattoos are posted with this case summary.

Details of Disappearance

Vincler was aboard the Seattle, Washington based 110-foot fishing vessel Destination when it sailed from the port of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in February 2017. There were six men on board: the captain, Jeffrey Hathaway, and five crew members: Vincler, Kai Hamik, Charles "Glenn" Jones, Lawrence "Larry" O'Grady and Darrik Seibold.

In Dutch Harbor, the crew picked up an extra load of bait for their crab pots, bringing the load on the Destination to 10,000 pounds. They went out to fish Alaskan crab. By the early morning hours of February 11, the Destination had reached the southern shore of St. George Island in the Bering Sea. By 6:00 a.m., the boat had cleared the island's northwest corner and was in open water again, headed for St. Paul, Alaska.

The boat's ship tracking system, AIS, stopped transmitting at 6:14 a.m. At 6:15, the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) went off, alerting the Coast Guard, who launched a search. The EPIRB, which is supposed to float free when the boat goes down, was located, as was a single life ring, but nothing else was found. After two and a half days of searching, the Coast Guard declared the six men aboard the Destination lost at sea.

An investigation by the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that freezing spray had coated the Destination and made it top-heavy, and that Hathaway should not have ventured out into the hazardous weather without taking proper precautions. Coast Guard analysis using computer modeling also determined the boat had significant stability problems and failed to meet minimum standards.

Ships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have located the wreckage of the Destination using sonar. It lies in 256 feet of water. The captain and crew members' bodies have not been found, but they have been declared legally dead.