Search is called off for missing local man
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on July 15, 2016 1:46 PM
The search for a Wayne County man who went missing last week in the mouth of the Yeopim River has been called off.
John Poandl, 56, of Dudley, was in Hertford with his wife of 32 years and friends when he reportedly went for a swim in the mouth of the Yeopim River off of Perquimans and Chowan counties July 6.
One of Poandl's sisters, Doris Poandl Smith, said he went to Hertford -- near the Yeopim River -- every chance he got, and said she feels like the events of the past week have been a living nightmare.
"It's been like a deep nightmare that you just can't wake up from," Mrs. Smith said. "It feels like it's not real to us, that he's just going to walk up to us any minute and we're going to go, 'Oh my gosh, where have you been? We've been waiting for you.'"
Mrs. Smith said the last time she saw Poandl was June 25, at a family reunion -- an event that Poandl coordinated himself for the past 15 years, she said.
According to another of Poandl's sisters, Debra Poandl Edick, members of the United States Coast Guard and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission -- who conducted the search for the missing man -- told the family he had disappeared after jumping off his pontoon boat with a friend to go for a swim.
"They went out on the pontoon to do a little bit of playing, you know, and most of the time when he goes out on the pontoon he's in water that's about 3- or 4-feet deep," Mrs. Edick said. "When they got done playing, they got back on the pontoon and started back and went further into the sound. While they were going back, the boys decided they wanted to go for a swim because of the heat. Right after they dove in they noticed the surf wasn't right, and they told the girls on the boat just to start the boat and to come and get them not get in the water."
Mrs. Edick said the man Poandl was with, Gary Hause, was able to be pulled from the water by Poandl's wife, Donna, and Hause's wife, Lisa.
"They lost sight of John while pulling Gary out of the water," Mrs. Edick said.
Mrs. Edick said she was on a cross-country RV trip and was in Washington state when she received the notification of her brother's disappearance. She immediately got on a plane and flew back to North Carolina to join in the search for him. The last time she saw Poandl was approximately three-and-a-half months ago, she said.
With the official search being called off as of Sunday, Mrs. Smith said some family and friends plan to take a boat down to the area of Poandl's disappearance and continue their search this weekend.
"We've talked to the Coast Guard and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and they told us they've done what they could do in terms of search and rescue and search and recovery," Mrs. Smith said. "The last thing they told us was that they would be on normal patrol."
In addition to his wife of 32 years, Poandl has a set of twin daughters. Poandl's brother, Jimmy Poandl, said Poandl was a firefighter with the Arrington Volunteer Fire Department for more than 25 years. Jimmy also said his brother was a Marine Corps reservist, and that he was a man willing to help anyone in any way he could.
"I'm in a dazed awe," Jimmy said. "I couldn't believe it."
Mrs. Smith said the family is attempting to get back to its normal routine in Poandl's absence.
Mrs. Edick said closure would come when Poandl is found and the family can lay his body to rest.
"None of us have ever been through anything like this before. Right now there's really nothing anybody can do until he comes home," Mrs. Smith said. "It feels like we're in limbo until he comes home."
Jimmy said the last time he saw Poandl was the Friday or Saturday before he went missing, and in his absence, it feels like a piece of himself has gone missing.
"There are times right now where I still don't believe it," Jimmy said. "I always thought maybe he's hanging on somewhere out there cussing us out because we haven't found him yet."