Public service: Chicago Kayaker Missing In Venezuela - 55-Year-Old Not Seen Since Sunday

www.nbc5.com POSTED: 1:43 p.m. CST March 13, 2003 UPDATED: 12:13 p.m. CST March 14, 2003

CHICAGO -- A north side man has apparently vanished. The 55-year-old went missing following a kayaking trip in the Carribean and was last seen off the coast of Venezuela.

Lee Harris was vacationing at a resort area in Curacao. He was staying at a property he owns there, near a beach he's familiar with. That's why family and friends can't explain his disappearance.

Harris was kayaking with his wife, stepson and several friends Sunday morning.

"He said, 'You guys go ahead and I'll catch up with you,' and that's the last they saw of him," Harris' aunt, Denise Bolon, told NBC5's Jennifer Mitchell.

His business partner, Bismark Brackett, was notified Sunday afternoon. Retracing the route on a map with Mitchell, Brackett said Harris had kayaked in the area dozens of times.

"They kayak from the beach to this area," Brackett said, pointing to an area on the map north of Harris' property where the missing man apparently often took his kayak. "Somewhere between this small beach and Cave Lee, he went missing."

Known as an avid outdoorsman, Harris did have a life jacket on since the water in that area is often rough, Mitchell said.

Rescue crews continue searching the water where he was last seen and family members are posting information on the Internet, hoping someone may have spotted him.

"There was no sign of him. No kayak. No lifejacket. Nothing," according to Bolon.

Mitchell said the family hopes that might be good news. Maybe Harris simply drifted off course and will be found with his kayak alive. He's a good swimmer and an athletic guy. Friends and family are hoping that he's found alive.