Lookout Mountain man missing, presumed dead after rogue wave sweeps him away

Oregon State Police Troopers, along with Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, Depot Bay Fire Department, Pac West Ambulance, and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a report of a man washed off shore of the point at the Rocky Creek Scenic View Point, just south of Depoe Bay on US 101.
Oregon State Police Troopers, along with Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, Depot Bay Fire Department, Pac West Ambulance, and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to a report of a man washed off shore of the point at the Rocky Creek Scenic View Point, just south of Depoe Bay on US 101.

DEPOE BAY, Ore. (AP) - Authorities are searching for a 26-year-old Lookout Mountain man who got swept into the water by a rogue wave near Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast.

Oregon State Police said in a news release that multiple agencies responded to a report of a man washed off shore at Rocky Creek Scenic View Point Friday morning.

Police say Kelly Bennett Smith was visiting the coast for the first time with friends after finishing a job in Corvallis, Oregon. Officials say Smith and a friend climbed beyond the viewpoint onto rocks to take photos when a wave approached and struck them from behind.

Police say Smith was pulled by the current into rough seas.

Friends and responders had spotted him but he has since disappeared, officials said.

Smith was a graduate of Chattanooga's Baylor School. His parents live on Lookout Mountain.

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