On August 6th around 2:50 PM the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received a report from the United States Coast Guard Station in Fort Bragg CA, related to a recovered kayak on the Pacific Ocean and possible missing person.

Responding deputies conducted an investigation and learned the kayak belonged to James Begley. Witnesses place James entering the water on his kayak sometime between 12:01 AM and 2:00 AM that morning. A witness who knew James contacted him and was advised by James that he could not sleep so he was going kayaking. He was seen wearing a tan colored "Carhart" jacket but no wetsuit or life vest.

Other witnesses who had seen James in the past several days mentioned him giving conflicting statements about his long term plans and others described him as having an "undiagnosed mental illness".

James was not located on land or in the area where his boat had been located.