OCONTO (NBC 26) — The Door County Sheriff's Office is not in the water Wednesday searching for Billy Salnik. But, they plan to bring boats out again on Thursday for the search.
- Meet a harbor master in Oconto, one of the last people to see Billy Salnik and his children alive before their boat capsized in the bay of Green Bay
- The Marinette County and Brown County Sheriff's Offices say they do not currently have any searches going on
- Multiple agencies have conducted searches on land, in the bay and used drones since Billy and his children disappeared over the weekend
- The family of Billy (32) Charlotte (5), and Joshua Salnik (3), spoke with NBC 26 in an exclusive interview Tuesday
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
This is the spot where a dad launched his sailboat for a day of fun with his kids, which turned into a tragedy. I'm Pari Apostolakos at Breakwater Park in Oconto with details on the search for Billy Salnik.
The Door County Sheriff's Office says it's still looking for Billy Salnik, but on Wednesday, only with drones. Giving boaters a rest who have been searching for days.
The sheriff's office says while the window to find him alive is closing they are keeping the door open for a rescue or a recovery.
But, the Coast Guard says it's called off their search since the timeline for finding someone alive in the water is coming to an end.
"I didn't really think it would end this tragically, I had no reason to believe that," Harbor Master Randall Smith said. He says he remembers meeting Salnik at Breakwater Park in Oconto weeks ago and he saw him at the harbor Saturday morning with his kids before they disappeared.
Smith says it was a busy day with clear skies.
"So he wasn't alone going out on that [day], nobody else sensed any hazard at all," he said.
The Door County Sheriff's Office says the capsized boat was found Monday off of Door County, and later that day the bodies of Salnik's children, Charlotte and Joshua were found with their life vests tied together.
I also met Joe Mans at Breakwater Park.
"We thought well, maybe we can do something to help that family and my heart just goes out to them," Mans, a Peshtigo resident, said.
Mans says he searched the water near Green and Chambers Islands on Monday.
"These things happen, you know, Green Bay is an animal at times," Mans said.
The Door County Sheriff's Office says boats will be in the bay again Thursday with dogs trained to find humans in the water.
