The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Tuesday evening for a missing man from Thomaston whose empty kayak was found Monday in Muscongus Bay.

Baruch Roberts, 79, was last seen Sunday morning near Friendship, according to the Coast Guard. His empty kayak was found by a fisherman near Allen Island on Monday afternoon, prompting a search by the Maine Marine Patrol.

The Coast Guard joined the search around 4 p.m. Monday and looked for Roberts throughout the night using a small boat from the Boothbay Harbor Coast Guard station, the 110-foot Cutter Ocracoke and an MH-60 from Air Station Cape Cod.

The search was suspended around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, said Ken Stuart, a command duty officer for the Coast Guard.

“We are suspending the search for now, pending further developments,” Stuart said. That means the search will not resume Wednesday unless something turns up that warrants further investigation.

Stuart said dozens of Coast Guard officers, members of the Maine Marine Patrol, the Friendship Fire Department and good samaritans spent all of Tuesday searching the shoreline and ocean for Roberts. Two helicopters, which were brought in Tuesday from Air Station Cape Cod, conducted an aerial search.

Stuart said Roberts’ empty kayak was found floating Monday about a half mile west of Allen Island, a private island near the southeastern end of Muscongus Bay. It is about halfway between St. George in Knox County and Monhegan Island.

Anyone with information is asked to call (207) 767-0303.

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