The Coast Guard called off a search for a mariner who was reported missing early Wednesday morning 529 miles east of Virginia.
Officials in Portsmouth told Navy Times Thursday that they received a report that three people on board the sailboat In Tune entered the water, but Donald Edmands never resurfaced.
The other two unidentified people were rescued by the crew of the motor vessel Stena Progress, which diverted from their course in response to a 4 a.m. Wednesday “mayday” call on VHF-FM channel 16, officials added.
"I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends who have been affected by this case,” said Capt. Timothy Eason, the Chief of Incident Management for the Coast Guard’s 5th District, in a prepared statement emailed to Navy Times.
“Deciding when to suspend a search is an extremely hard decision to make. Unfortunately, after this period of time in the water and extensive area searched with no sightings, it is highly unlikely we would be able to recover him.”
Watchstanders in Portsmouth scrambled an HC-130J Super Hercules long-range surveillance aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and the Virginia Beach-based cutter Vigorous, according to releases sent to Navy Times.
An HC-144 Ocean Sentry medium-range surveillance plane from Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, relieved the Super Hercules crew later on Wednesday.
The teams canvassed more than 1,069 square nautical miles of the Atlantic Oceans before the search was suspended, officials estimated.
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