Coast Guard stops search for missing man on Lake Erie

One person is dead and another remains missing after the U.S. Coast Guard called off its search for the last person aboard a capsized boat on Lake Erie on Saturday. Rescue workers were able to rescue three people in distress, but one was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

On Saturday morning, July 6, the Coast Guard received a MAYDAY call from a boat on Lake Erie. Coast Guard Sector Eastern Great Lakes in Buffalo, New York, identified the rough area from which the distress call came and dispatched crews from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit and Station Cleveland Harbor.

Rescue workers searched an area of ​​about 160 square kilometers. After nearly four hours of searching, they discovered debris from a capsized boat. A diving team found the partially sunken ship, but no people. Eventually, rescue teams found two people who were still conscious, a man and a woman. Another man was found unconscious in the water. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.

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Only after those three were rescued did rescuers learn that a fourth person was missing. Operations continued, and search and rescue teams spent a total of ten hours looking for the boaters. The Coast Guard called off its search on Saturday evening after searching for the remaining man for hours.

“Ceasing a search and rescue operation is one of the most difficult decisions we have to make. Our teams – in collaboration with our partners in the state of Ohio and locally – conducted an extensive search for the missing person, and we are very grateful to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and first responders in Northeast Ohio for their immense efforts to return the person safely to his family,” said Capt. Mark Kuperman, chief of Coast Guard Sector Eastern Great Lakes, in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those involved in this tragic incident.”

The names of the deceased and missing person have not been released.

In addition to the various Coast Guard stations involved, ten local fire departments and sheriff’s offices were also involved in the search and rescue operation.

In another incident on July 6 on Lake Erie, the Coast Guard responded to five people who were knocked off their boat by a wave. Their boat sank, but the crew, who had been fishing, were wearing life jackets at the time. The Coast Guard located them via their cell phones and a Coast Guard Air Station Detroit helicopter, which flew briefly from the search near the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, found them. The five boaters were found by using a floating cooler to stay afloat and together.

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