On the morning of December 11, 2001, 40-year-old Robert Thompson, captain of the 40-foot crabbing vessel Nesika, left Newport, Oregon, for the first day of the Dungeness crab season. About a mile west of Yaquina Head the boat was struck and capsized in rough Pacific waters at approximately 10:20 a.m. Four men were aboard: Captain Thompson, Steven Langlot, 34, Benjamin Eder, 21, and Jared Hamrick, 20.

A search and rescue operation recovered the body of Steven Langlot; the Nesika later ran aground on Beverly Beach. Robert Thompson, Benjamin Eder, and Jared Hamrick were never found and are presumed lost at sea. The event devastated the Newport fishing community and left families without closure.

If anyone has information about that day or remembers details about the vessel, the crew, or the search that followed, please share what you know.