COAST GUARD SEARCH ENDS; 2 PEOPLE RESCUED, 1 BODY RECOVERED

March 21, 2006

MOBILE, Ala. – U.S. Coast Guard units from the Gulf coast ended a search and rescue case Sunday after rescuing two boaters and locating the body of a third off the coast of Florida.

Rescued are Howell Mitchell of Seabrook, Texas, and Thomas Keene of Golden Mass, Miss. Crews also recovered the body of Steven McVay of Colorado Springs, Co.

In a mayday call to Coast Guard Sector Mobile at 4:30 Sunday morning, the crew of the H.D. Mitchell stated the 60-foot tug boat was about to roll over and provided a position. Sector Mobile search and rescue coordinators immediately ordered the launch of Coast Guard crews aboard an HU-25 Falcon rescue jet from Aviation Training Center Mobile, an HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter from Air Station New Orleans and a 25-foot rescue boat from Station Panama City, Fla. Also launched to assist was a HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla.

Sunday morning, boatcrews from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Sea Tow Services International joined the search.

The rescue crews searched an area of 2,800 square nautical miles before the Jayhawk helicopter crew, returning to Air Station Clearwater, located an oil sheen approximately 50 miles away from the area being searched. The Falcon jetcrew diverted to search the area, located a debris field near Cedar Key, Fla., and vectored in the Jayhawk crew to search. There, the helicopter found McVay’s body while the jetcrew located the other two men signaling them from the water about a mile away.

The two surviving boaters were hoisted aboard the helicopter and transported to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., while a seperate helicopter crew transported McVay’s body to Apalachicola Airport were it was transferred to awaiting EMS.

Personnel from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., are investigating the incident.

COAST GUARD SEARCH ENDS; 2 PEOPLE RESCUED, 1 BODY RECOVERED

MOBILE, Ala. – U.S. Coast Guard units from the Gulf coast ended a search and rescue case Sunday after rescuing two boaters and locating the body of a third off the coast of Florida.

Rescued are Howell Mitchell of Seabrook, Texas, and Thomas Keene of Golden Mass, Miss. Crews also recovered the body of Steven McVay of Colorado Springs, Co.

Sunday morning, boatcrews from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Sea Tow Services International joined the search.

Personnel from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., are investigating the incident.

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