Sequim resident William Rusk, 79, was found dead in the Bogachiel River in Forks on the morning of Thursday, March 27, after his boat overturned on March 21.

Clallam County Sheriff’s Department reported they recovered Rusk’s body at about 10:08 a.m. Thursday after a Forks fishing guide saw him submerged in about six feet of water. Rusk was found near the spot his boat was recovered days earlier, about two miles down river from the boating incident.

Quileute Tribal Fish and Wildlife Enforcement officers assisted with the recovery of Rusk’s body.

Rusk’s boat overturned in the early evening of March 21 on the Bogachiel River in Forks just after he and friend Mark Roller of Vancouver, British Columbia, had launched their drift boat from the Bogachiel Way fish hatchery.

Roller made it to shore and threw Rusk a life jacket. Rusk held onto the life jacket and the boat as it drifted down the river. Roller called 9-1-1.

Law enforcement searched for Rusk for two days. Chief Deputy Ron Cameron of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department said they suspended the search as of Sunday evening after further searching.

Rusk was a retired professional from California and new to the Sequim area.