Wait for news on Raleigh swimmer missing on Outer Banks agonizing for his family

Healy went into the ocean with a boogie board last Wednesday morning just north of Oregon Inlet while his girlfriend took a walk on the beach. But she told authorities that, when she scanned the waves for him, he was gone.

A Coast Guard crew found the boogie board against a span of the remaining section of Bonner Bridge, authorities said. The Coast Guard and other authorities searched for Healy for more than 16 hours before calling off the search.

"He was just out there going for a little body boarding, boogie boarding session. [It's] not abnormal for him at all," Orion Healy said of his father.

Orion Healy said his 60-year-old father is in great shape and is an avid swimmer and certified scuba diver. But the water flowing in and out of Oregon Inlet makes it a dangerous place for even the most experienced swimmer.

"You can get upset, you can be sad, you can be hopeful, but ultimately it comes down to numbness, because you don't really know how to feel," said Orion Healy, who last saw his father two weeks ago.

Michael Healy spent the past two and half years volunteering at national parks across the country.

"I think it has always been just a dream of his to see everything in the United States and travel around a little bit," his son said.

The final stop was the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, where he and his girlfriend were to volunteer at a campground for six months. He arrived the day before he disappeared.

Orion Healy said he's aware of speculation about his father being pulled out into the ocean by a rip current or being attacked by a shark.

Authorities said a low risk of rip currents was forecast for the area last Wednesday.

"I would like to think it wasn't a shark attack, but also I don't like thinking about any possibility that could have led to him being in the situation he is in," Orion Healy said.

National Park Service rangers continue to search the shoreline for Michael Healy by foot and vehicle.