SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard rescue crews located and recovered the body of a missing diver Friday while searching, approximately 26 nautical miles northeast of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
“Our most heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of this scuba diver and U.S. Virgin Island’s Police Officer,” said Captain Eduardo Pino, Coast Guard Sector San Juan commander.
The diver had gone missing Wednesday morning, while scuba diving in the vicinity of Buck Island Reef, Saint Croix, with two other persons aboard a recreational vessel.
The operator of the vessel reportedly was able to only locate and recover one of the two divers that had gone into the water.
Coast Guard Search and Rescue Coordinators at Sector San Juan received a call from a 911 emergency operator at 8:14 a.m. Wednesday, who reported the incident.
Rescue crews searching since Wednesday aboard Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico, MH-65 Dolphin helicopters; the Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark and an Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon Jet, conducted 13 surface and air searches spanning out 1,141 nautical square miles; an area approximately 14 times the size of Saint Croix.
Virgin Islands’ Police and Department of Natural Resources rescue crews, aboard vessels and aircraft, and the crew of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection DHC-8 aircraft, also searched for the missing diver.
Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark is a 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
