Missing Sailor Located Deceased in Caloosahatchee River

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Coast Guard suspended its two-day search for a missing 60-year-old sailor after a Good Samaritan located him deceased at about 9 a.m. Saturday in the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers, Fla.

Stephen G. Nelson, of North Fort Myers, Fla., was reported missing Friday when a marine unit from the Cape Coral Police Department located Nelson’s unmanned, adrift 25-foot sailboat in the Caloosahatchee River, about one and a half miles from Nelson’s residence, with the sail at half mast and a few personal belongings onboard.

Coordination efforts from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., and rescue assets from Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach, Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Fort Myers Police Department, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Cape Coral Police Department aided in the two-day search.

FWC is investigating the incident.


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