The boat belonging to Joseph Matthew Johnson, who went missing in November, was spotted last week on the island of Sao Jorge, about 1,000 miles off the coast of Portugal, North Carolina police said Monday. Johnson, 44, was not found, but Portuguese authorities contacted Carolina Beach police after his fishing boat in Clearwater was pulled about 2,700 miles from where it was last located in 2006. “The investigation is ongoing and there is no additional information at this time,” police said in a statement. Johnson’s 19-foot-long boat showed evidence of capsizing and was covered in barrels and algae, indicating it had been underwater for “enough time,” Carolina Beach police told the Wilmington Star-News. Johnson, who went missing after not returning from a fishing trip with a friend, was last seen leaving the Federal Point Yacht Club in Carolina Beach on November 22, the newspaper reported. Relatives believe that Joseph Matthew Johnson will be found alive thanks to the survival skills he learned while enlisting in the US Army Special Forces. Carolina Beach Police Department Cell phone records showed activity on Johnson’s device later that day off the coast of Bald Head Island in North Carolina. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for Johnson in November after covering nearly 7,500 square miles in 53 hours, according to the report. Johnson’s mother said she believes her son – who served in the military for 24 years, including tours in Afghanistan and South America – will be found alive thanks to the survival skills he learned while enlisting. “It’s not just hope,” Mary Kay Anderson told the newspaper. “We know he is alive and we pray for his miraculous rescue. We are approaching. It’s almost here, I feel it. “ Joseph Johnson’s boat is shown in an undated photo. Brochure Johnson is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds, with strawberry blond hair, police said. He was alone when he left the North Carolina marina and may have had a pistol with him, according to the National System of Missing and Unidentified Persons. Anyone with information on their whereabouts should call Carolina Beach Police at (910) 458-2540.
