Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City File Photo
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended its search Monday evening for two men who went missing near Mosquito Point on the Rappahannock River in Virginia, Sunday.
59-year-old Mark Ringenberg and 59-year-old Stephen Perkins departed from Weems, Virginia aboard a 15-foot Boston Whaler, Sunday morning. Later that evening, their boat was found washed ashore and unoccupied near Mosquito Point.
Boat crews from Coast Guard Station Milford Haven, the crews of the Coast Guard Cutter Razorbill and Coast Guard Cutter Flying Fish, and aircrews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina and Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, New Jersey searched for a combined total of 63 hours covering approximately 774 square miles.
“Suspending a search is never an easy decision to make and weighs heavy on everyone’s heart,” said Capt. Kevin Carroll, Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads commander. “ There’s no way to express how sorry we are that we were unable to return Stephen and Mark home to their loved ones.”
The Coast Guard searched alongside the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Lancaster County, Middlesex County and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
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