Coast Guard Cutter Ridley file photo
MOBILE, Ala. — The Coast Guard and partner agencies are searching Thursday for a 14-year-old boy who went missing while swimming at Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, Florida.
The boy was last seen wearing gray shorts.
Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received notification at approximately 6:45 p.m. Wednesday from Okaloosa Sheriff’s County Office personnel that the boy’s friends last saw him struggling to swim in the surf 200 feet off the beach before he went under the water and did not resurface.
Sector Mobile watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a 45-foot Response Boat–Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Destin, a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, and the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Ridley, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Panama City, Florida.
Coast Guard crews searched through the night and are currently still searching for the boy. Okaloosa Sheriff’s County Office personnel, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission crews and local lifeguards are also involved in the search.
If anyone has information about this case, please call the Sector Mobile Command Center at 251-441-6211.
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