Coast Guard suspends search for missing diver in Gulf of Mexico

Coast Guard searched for missing diver

Oct 24, 2011 8:04 AM by KATC Staff

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for a missing 53-year-old male diver at approximately 7 p.m., Sunday.

Coast Guard crews searched more than 44 hours, covering approximately 1,394 square miles, in an effort to locate a missing diver.
The Coast Guard initiated search efforts, Saturday, after receiving a report that he had not resurfaced following a dive at the site of the sunken USS Oriskany.
Coast Guard crews from Air Station New Orleans, Aviation Training Center Mobile, Cutter Seahawk and Station Pensacola worked in coordination with members from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Escambia Search and Rescue during the search. A local dive charter also searched with 10 volunteer divers and two divers from Escambia County Search and Rescue in and around the USS Oriskany.
“We deployed many air and surface assets and worked extensively with our local partners during an exhaustive search to find this man,” said Ensign Timothy Williams, public affairs officer for Coast Guard Sector Mobile. “Unfortunately, we were still unable to locate him, and because of this, we have suspended our search.”
The search is suspended pending further developments.

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