Water Safety Awareness

Our goal is to try and raise awareness on how important it is for Water Safety Awareness.

It is critical for EVERYONE to wear a LIFEJACKET ALL THE TIME.

At 1837 hours of August 30, 2020, Cowlitz 911 received a report that a kayaker on the Columbia River fell out of his kayak and did not resurface. The location was at Martin’s Bar, near Woodland, Washington. Deputies with the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area with a boat and diver and also used a drone to search for the missing subject. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Coast Guard sent additional boats to assist in the search, as well as a Coast Guard helicopter. Other fishermen in the area also assisted in the search. Efforts to locate the missing subject were unsuccessful.
Deputies contacted family members and witnesses at the scene where the subject had been fishing from the bank. The subject was using the kayak to take his fishing line out about 300 feet from shore and was seen falling out of the kayak as he dropped his line. He was not wearing a life jacket. The missing kayaker was identified as Mark A. Bunker Jr, age 35, of Ariel, Washington. Bunker was reportedly wearing a camouflage shirt, Carhartt jeans, and a black hat.

This has been a very difficult time for our family. We miss Mark so much and our hearts are broken. This is not something you just get over, our lives have been changed forever. We hope that some how, we can turn this tragedy into something positive. In honor of Loving Son.