Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson file photo
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended the search for an overdue French sailor in the mid-Atlantic region at 2 p.m. Friday.
The Coast Guard began searching when Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders in Portsmouth received a mayday distress broadcast on Sunday night.
Coast Guard assets involved in the search were HC-130 Hercules airplane crews and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson, homeported in Cape May, New Jersey.
The Coast Guard’s search encompassed 11,104 square miles.
Also searching was a Navy MH-60 Seahawk helicopter crew from the USS Eisenhower, homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.
“Suspending a search for a missing or overdue boater is never an easy decision to make,” said Lt. Cmdr. Wes Geyer, search and rescue mission coordinator, with the 5th Coast Guard District Command Center. “We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of Joseph Calland.”
