Boating; Missing Boater search Suspended
7th District Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard
UPDATE: Coast Guard crews suspend the search for fisherman near Egmont Key, Fla.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Coast Guard crews suspend the search Thursday evening
for a missing 53-year-old male resident of Madeira Beach, Fla., who was last
seen aboard the 42-foot fishing boat, No Bull, 78 miles northwest of Egmont Key,
Wednesday.
Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders received a relayed distress call from 7th Coast Guard District watchstanders at 7:15 a.m., Wednesday, reporting Gary Ketlehut wasn’t aboard the No Bull when the crew awoke at 6 a.m. The crew of the No Bull stopped fishing at midnight Wednesday, and Ketlehut was last seen sleeping at the bow.
Sector watchstanders launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Clearwater. Coast Guard Cutter Hawk, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in St. Petersburg, was diverted to assist in the search as well.
Search and rescue crews searched for 55 hours covering more than 2,150 square miles.
“Our goal is for a positive outcome and we want to bring the missing home, so it's always difficult when we have to suspend the search,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Josuah Chears-Stevens, a search and rescue coordinator at the sector.
Ketlehut was last seen wearing tan shorts with no lifejacket. The incident is under investigation.
Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders received a relayed distress call from 7th Coast Guard District watchstanders at 7:15 a.m., Wednesday, reporting Gary Ketlehut wasn’t aboard the No Bull when the crew awoke at 6 a.m. The crew of the No Bull stopped fishing at midnight Wednesday, and Ketlehut was last seen sleeping at the bow.
Sector watchstanders launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Clearwater. Coast Guard Cutter Hawk, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in St. Petersburg, was diverted to assist in the search as well.
Search and rescue crews searched for 55 hours covering more than 2,150 square miles.
“Our goal is for a positive outcome and we want to bring the missing home, so it's always difficult when we have to suspend the search,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Josuah Chears-Stevens, a search and rescue coordinator at the sector.
Ketlehut was last seen wearing tan shorts with no lifejacket. The incident is under investigation.
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