Missing fisherman’s family offering a $10,000 reward
Boaters and volunteers have been scouring the large lake since Friday.
BELLE GLADE — As the search for missing fisherman Nik Kayler entered its fifth day Tuesday, his family offered a $10,000 reward for his recovery.
Authorities have said the 38-year-old Army veteran, husband and father was flung overboard Thursday into Lake Okeechobee as he and another angler participated in the first day of the Fishing League Worldwide’s three-day Costa Series tournament.
Organizers canceled the rest of the bass-fishing event Friday, and authorities, fellow boaters and volunteers from as far away as Maine have scoured the lake — about one-third as big as all of Palm
Beach County — since then. At the request of searchers, the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday posted temporary flight restrictions over the lake.
“Hey everyone we have been trying our best to find my brother Nik for days, with no luck,” his brother, Phil Kayler, posted overnight on his Facebook page.
“This lake is so big it’s so hard to find anything in it,” he wrote. “My family and I are offering a $10,000 reward to the person that finds Nik. We need to bring him home asap.
“Please be safe as possible. This lake is 750 square miles with 54 degree water. We need all kinds of boats to run the lake, people walking the shore line and working inland just in case he made it to land. It’s a big area so any and all help is needed.”
On Monday, Nik Kayler’s half-brother, Anthony Llanos, a former water survival instructor for the U.S. Marines, said he’s holding out hope that Nik is alive. He said Nik also has had survival training, withstood a similar stranding a few years back and was in top shape.
Another competitor in the tournament set up a money-raising webpage for Kayler’s family on Sunday, with a goal of $15,000. In one day, it collected more than $20,000 and was at more than $35,000 by Tuesday evening.
Kayler’s fishing partner, Bill Kisiah, 51, from the New Orleans suburb of Slidell, La., checked out Friday evening from Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade.
After the men launched Thursday morning from Okeechobee, “preliminary information indicates that the vessel encountered rough waters and struck a wave and Mr. Kayler was ejected from the vessel,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a brief statement Monday afternoon.
A separate FWC report said that “efforts made by Mr. Kisiah were unsuccessful, as he was unable to recover his passenger due to suspected engine damage and conditions.” FWC did not provide an update on the search Tuesday.
Weather officials have said winds could have made the lake choppy Thursday, especially toward its south end near Palm Beach County.