Body Found along Pamlico Sound Identified as Missing Kayaker

A body found along the Pamlico Sound near the Dare County mainland on December 28 has been positively identified as 26-year-old kayaker Alexander Rush, who went missing after launching from the N.C. Wildlife boat ramp by the William B. Umstead Bridge in Manns Harbor in early December.

Rush, a Kill Devil Hills resident, was last heard from on December 5 prior to launching, and his kayak was found overturned in the Pamlico Sound on December 7.

About three weeks later, on Dec. 28, a duck hunter discovered a body on the Pamlico Sound shoreline near Point Peter Road on the Dare County mainland. When a positive identification could not be achieved at the scene, the body was sent to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy and identification.

The U.S. Coast Guard, N.C. Marine Patrol, Dare County Sheriff’s Office, emergency management personnel from Gates and Hertford counties, and other agencies, along with countless volunteers, combed the waters and shoreline between Roanoke Island and the Dare County mainland for three days before the search was called off.

The N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office in Greenville was able to positively identify Alexander Rush as the man found on December 28, per a January 4 update from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.