CLEVELAND — Rescue personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard have ended their active search on Lake Ontario Tuesday night for a man reported missing Sunday.
The missing man is Scott B. French of Rochester, N.Y.
At 3:25 p.m., Sunday, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, Ontario, reported a 32-foot sailboat had washed ashore at Point Petre, Ontario with a New York registration and no passengers aboard.
It was reported that the vessel had cash, food, ice in a cooler and a driver’s license onboard. The vessel was found with its sails up and swim platform down.
French was last seen at about 9 a.m., Saturday departing from Sodus Bay, N.Y., aboard the sailing vessel Persnickety. His family reported that he generally traveled north 10-15 miles before returning to Sodus Bay.
The sailboat’s onboard GPS was not in use.
Searching were: the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay, home-ported in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.; an aircrew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., aboard a C-130 Hercules; an aircrew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter; boatcrews from U.S. Coast Guard Stations Rochester, and Oswego, N.Y., aboard 47-foot Motor Lifeboats; aircrews from JRCC Trenton aboard a C-130 Hercules and a CH-146 Griffon helicopter; the crew of Canadian Coast Guard Ship Cape Hearne; a Customs and Border Protection aircrew abaord a Citation II and the crew of Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Wellington.
Rescue crews searched for more than 136 total asset hours and covered more than 6,400 square miles.
Only after a probable search area is saturated with the appropriate assets and resources, and persons lost or in distress are still not located, is a decision is made to suspend a case.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends,” said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Nicholas Bartolotta, chief of response for the Coast Guard 9th District.
“The decision to suspend a search takes extreme consideration and is one of the most difficult decisions a Coast Guardsman is ever faced with.”
Anyone that may have information that could aid in the search is asked to call 216-902-6117.
U.S. sailing vessel Persnickety moored in Point Petre, Ontario, Canada, July 15, 2013 after the vessel was found unmanned and adrift in Canadian waters near Point Petre, July 14. Photo courtesy of Canadian Coast Guard
