Coast Guard suspends search for missing teenager off Gloucester Point, VA
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended the search for a missing teenager off Gloucester Point, Virginia, at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 22, 2017.
The Coast Guard began searching when Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders in Portsmouth were notified at about 4:40 p.m. Friday, July 21, 2017, that a 13-year-old boy went missing while swimming with family members at Gloucester Point Beach.
Coast Guard assets involved in the search were an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, a 29-foot Response Boat-Small crew from Station Milford Haven in Hudgins, Virginia, and the Coast Guard Cutter Flying Fish crew, homeported in Little Creek, Virginia.
The Coast Guard’s search encompassed 44 square miles over a 13-hour period.
Also searching were crews from the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, York County Fire Department, Abingdon Fire Department, Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia Marine Police and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
“The decision to suspend a search is a difficult one to make,” said Coast Guard Capt. Rick Wester, commander, Sector Hampton Roads. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the boy’s family during this difficult time.”