SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard rescue crews terminated the search for a missing boater of a capsized pleasure boat after the body was discovered trapped inside the vessel at approximately 8:30 a.m. this morning.
Patrick Ostheimer, a 35-year old male who had been living in Puerto Rico for the last year, was found deceased early today.
The pleasure craft capsized Sunday after a collision with the Native Son Express passenger ferry approximately one and a half nautical miles west of Cruz Bay, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Native Son Express recovered three of the four passengers from the water, who had been traveling aboard the 30-foot pleasure craft, and took the survivors to Saint Thomas Hospital. One of the rescued men remained at the hospital, while the other two were released after refusing medical assistance.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Coast Guard Sector San Juan Joint Rescue Sub Center received a report from the motor vessel ORIO, via VHF-Channel 16, that a boat collision had taken place between the Native Son Express and a 30-foot pleasure craft.
A 25-foot rescue boat from Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Saint Thomas and an Air Station Borinquen HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico were immediately dispatched to search for the missing boater.
The cause of the collision is currently under investigation by Marine Safety Detachment personnel in Saint Thomas.
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