PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended its search Friday for a 25-year-old man who fell off his tube while tubing behind a boat near Virginia Beach Thursday.
The search for the man that began Thursday at about 6:15 p.m. after he was last seen in the water approximately 100 yards from Little Creek Channel, was suspended Friday at 8 p.m.
The search effort included a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Little Creek, a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Charles, the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Beluga, MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and C-130 Hercules crews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as well as crews from Norfolk Marine Police Patrol, Virginia Marine Police, Virginia Beach Fire Department, Hampton Police Department, Chesapeake Police Department and Norfolk Beach Patrol.
Searches covered approximately 1,079 square miles and totaled more than 39 hours.
“One of the most difficult things we have to do in the Coast Guard is suspend a search without finding the person we’re looking for,” said Capt. Richard Wester, commander, Sector Hampton Roads. ”Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of the missing man.”
