On a winter afternoon in January of 1998, a 55-year-old man named Jin S. Chin departed from Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for what he intended to be a brief, three-hour fishing excursion near the shore. He was alone on his 23-foot Robalo boat, named the Formosa. When he did not return as expected, a concerned neighbor reported him missing, setting in motion a search for the Virginia Beach and Richmond area resident. The unfolding events would leave his family and investigators with a perplexing maritime mystery.
The following morning, at approximately 10:00 a.m., a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 search aircraft spotted the Formosa about 40 miles east of Virginia Beach. The boat's engine was still running, and it was moving slowly through the water. A nearby commercial fishing vessel, the Grumpy, was guided to the location by the aircraft crew. A crew member from the Grumpy boarded the Formosa, turned off its engine, and secured the vessel. Aboard the boat, everything appeared to be in order; fishing gear and other items were still in place, and there were no signs of a struggle, that the boat had overturned, or had been swamped by waves. The only thing missing was Jin Chin.
In response to the discovery, the Coast Guard launched an extensive aerial search effort, utilizing both the C-130 aircraft and an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. They covered a wide expanse of the ocean off the coast of Virginia Beach, but by sunset, there was still no trace of the missing fisherman. Investigators were puzzled, as there was no clear indication of what could have happened to him. Mr. Chin had no known history of medical problems that might explain an accidental fall overboard. The case of Jin Chin's disappearance remains an unsettling mystery, a story of a routine fishing trip that ended with an empty boat and unanswered questions. The official search was suspended at sunset without finding any sign of him, leaving behind the lingering question of his fate at sea.
Last Seen: Jan 4, 1998
