On the morning of December 7, 2007, 22-year-old Andrew Jay Jessup Hebert-Hopper, a Tangent, Oregon, fisherman, fell overboard from the 75-foot crab boat Zora Belle about five miles northwest of the Siuslaw River. The Zora Belle’s mayday was received by the Coast Guard at 7:20 a.m., reporting a crew member thought to be unconscious. Air Station North Bend and Air Facility Newport helicopters and two 47-foot motor lifeboats from Station Siuslaw River searched a roughly 100-square-mile area for more than eight hours. The Coast Guard suspended the search that evening, noting expected survivability in the cold ocean was about four and a half hours. Oregon State Police opened a missing person case; Andrew was described as a white male, brown hair, green eyes, 6 feet 1 inch, 180–185 pounds.

This remains a man lost at sea and a reminder of commercial fishing hazards. If anyone was on the Zora Belle that day or has information about Andrew’s last hours, please come forward.