Missing sailor turns up safe

A man who was the subject of a rescue search today after his sailboat was found drifting off Catalina Island was found unharmed and unaware that his disappearance had caused a stir, authorities said. 

Dennis Larson’s sailboat was found about 10 a.m. approximately 14 miles from Catalina. No one was on board, and the sail was pulled down but hadn’t been stowed away, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Scott Epperson.

Rescuers found a cellphone on the boat and used it to call Larson's wife, who said he had called her earlier after running errands on the island.

Several Coast Guard boats and a rescue plane searched the waters until about 6:30 p.m., when a member of the auxiliary Coast Guard spotted Larson.

He had left his sailboat and had been traveling from harbor to harbor in a dinghy when he was found. He was unaware that anyone was looking for him, Epperson said.

-- Paloma Esquivel