ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Coast Guard is assisting the Cocoa City Police Department in Cocoa, Fla., in the search for an abducted three-year-old boy after he was reportedly kidnapped on Nov. 28, 2009.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg were contacted early Sunday morning by Cocoa City Police Department officials, requesting assistance in locating Paul Martikainen, 35, and his son, Luke Finch, 3. They reportedly departed Salt Creek Marina, in St. Petersburg, in a 32-foot grey Bristol sailboat at about 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Coast Guard is continuously broadcasting an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast via VHF radio channel 16 and is maintaining contact with all local marinas to be on the lookout for Finch, Martikainen, or their sailboat. Coast Guard search-and-rescue stations, aircraft and Coast Guard Auxiliary members are also continuing to search during patrols along the west coast of Florida.
At this point, the Coast Guard is assisting the search in cooperation with Cocoa City Police Department and local and federal law-enforcment agencies in an effort to locate Finch and Martikainen.
The following assets are currently searching:
* An HC-130 Hercules aircraft and crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla.
* An HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft and crew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala.
* Three Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission aircraft.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Martikainen or Finch is requested to contact the Coast Guard via VHF radio Channel 16 or at 727-824-7543, the Cocoa Police Department at 321-639-7620, or Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)at 813-558-5050.
