Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 file photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Alejandro Rivera
HOUSTON — The Coast Guard ended its search Sunday for a 17-year-old male who went missing while wade fishing near Freeport, Texas, Saturday.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Houston spotted the body of the missing teen in the middle of San Luis Pass
at 5:25 p.m. A Texas EquuSearch boat crew recovered the body and brought it ashore to awaiting first responders and the individual’s family.
“San Luis Pass is an incredibly hazardous area for wade fishing and swimming due to strong tidal currents and rapidly changing water depth, especially at night,” said Coast Guard Capt. Keith Donohue, search and rescue mission coordinator, Sector Houston-Galveston. “It is heartbreaking that a fishing trip with friends and family ended this way. We offer this young man’s family our deepest condolences for their unimaginable loss.”
Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston command center watchstanders received a report from Galveston Police Department personnel at 8:37 p.m. Saturday of a male who went missing while wade fishing near the San Louis Pass Bridge.
Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and a Coast Guard Station Freeport 45-foot Response Boat–Medium crew to search. All told, Coast Guard boat and air crews searched approximately 410 square miles for over 33 combined hours.
Involved in the search were:
- Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Command Center
- Coast Guard Station Freeport 45-foot Response Boat–Medium and 29-foot Response Boat–Small crews
- Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews
- Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew
- Gulf Coast Rescue Squad
- Jamaica Beach Police Department
- Galveston Police Department
- Galveston Island Beach Patrol
- Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department
- Galveston County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
- Texas EquuSearch
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