CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Coast Guard ended its search at about 3 p.m., Sunday, for a missing 29-year-old male diver 21 miles west of John’s Pass in Clearwater, after a Clearwater Fire and Rescue dive team aboard a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWC vessel located the diver submerged and deceased near the search area.
Michael McQuillen, of Lakeland, Fla., was reported missing to the Coast Guard from a friend aboard the 24-foot recreational vessel Lori’s Other Half, at 12:49 p.m., Saturday.
The Coast Guard, along with local agencies, searched a combined area of nearly 2,000-square miles for McQuillen before the search was ended.
Agencies assisting in the search were:
- Two HH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater
- The Coast Guard Cutter Alligator, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in St. Petersburg, Fla.
- A Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft
- An FWC boat crew
- A Clearwater Fire and Rescue dive team
Coast Guard officials will be investigating the incident.
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