Former Wicked Tuna captain dead from OBX boating accident

OUTER BANKS, N.C. (WAVY) — The Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing man off the coast of Oregon Inlet Tuesday, a day after former Wicked Tuna boat captain Charlie Griffin and his dog Leila were found dead about two miles south of Oregon Inlet.

Working with its partners, the Coast Guard said it searched for 41 hours and conducted 12 search patterns in covering about 400 miles by air, sea and on shore for Chad Dunn, 35. Griffin and his dog were found early Monday.

Visibility was a little over a half-mile, with seas at four-to-six feet and winds of 10 to 15 knots at the time Griffin and Dunn were reported missing.

“No two cases are ever the same,” said Cmdr. Corrie Sergent, a deputy with Sector North Carolina. “It is one of the hardest decisions to call off a search, and we offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends affected by this tragic event.”

North Carolina Fish and Wildlife will investigate the incident.

In a post on Griffin’s Reels of Fortune Wicked Tuna Facebook page, it said that “it is with the deepest sadness we report that Charlie Griffin and his beloved dog, Leila, have passed away in a boating accident today, March 4. Please keep family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. We will forever remember Griff!”

A post from NC Watermen United stated that “it is with a sad heart that we write this post. Captain Charlie Griffin met with a tragic boating accident in the early hours of Monday morning off Oregon Inlet. We wish to extend our sympathy to the family, friends, and fellow fishermen of this well respected and beloved captain of the Reels of Fortune. ‘Griff’ touched all whom he met including all his fans from his days on ‘Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks.’ ‘Griff’ was well loved and will be missed by many. We are forever grateful for the impact he made on our lives.”

The USCG Mid-Atlantic said on social media that it was “conducting [a] search for overdue boaters between Nags Head and Rodanthe, North Carolina.”

Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard said it searched through the night for the missing person and resumed the search in the morning with Coast Guard air and boat assets. They also got help from the National Parks Service with shoreline searches.

10 On Your Side also learned Griffin, his dog, and another man named Chad stopped to pick up a boat at Rudee Inlet Sunday morning.

A local fisherman helped get the boat started before they headed back to North Carolina.

Pat Foster shrimps in Virginia Beach and said a friend of his called and told him that Charlie and Chad needed help getting the boat running Sunday morning.

Foster said the boat had been at the fishing center fuel station for a few weeks now.

He said the boat wasn’t theirs, but they were trying to get it back to Wanchese that day.

Later that morning, Foster said he went out with a mechanic and they helped get the boat up and running.

“They got the boat — one motor running, the other was blown up, the weather was really pretty and after about an hour they were good to go,” Foster said. “Then I called them about 4:30 to see how they were doing. Everything was still good and they said they were on the last leg of the trip and I hadn’t heard from them since then, and then I found out the next morning what happened.”

10 On Your Side also spoke with local Virginia Beach fisherman David Wright, who said he fished next to “Griff” a few times right off the coast. He told 10 On Your Side he has some major concerns about Oregon Inlet.

“It’s always been well known as one of the more treacherous inlets, and I could only just think what would it be like, what would’ve happened if they had a jetty,” Wright said. “There’s just so much pain right now that, you know, a lot of people will be thinking that.”

Wright said this is a big loss to the fishing community.

“His love for fishing, I would say, was contagious,” Wright said, “just by listening to his excitement when he talked, when he got bites.”

“Anytime you lose a fellow fisherman and friend it’s terrible,” Foster said. “It’s just like losing a family member.”

Crews involved in the search included Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet, Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, National Park Service, NC Fish and Wildlife and the Dare County Sheriff’s Office.

The NC Fish and Wildlife Commission released a statement to 10 On Your Side regarding the ongoing search for the missing person.

Griffin and his crew starred in seasons two through five of the National Geographic series, “Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks.” Griffin’s boat won the fourth season.

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