PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps and National Park Service searched this weekend for a swimmer believed to be swept away off the coast of Ocracoke Island, N.C.
Coast Guard Stations Hatteras Inlet and Ocracoke, N.C., helicopter crews from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the USS Kearsarge and USS Enterprise searched for a 26 year-old male who was last seen swimming approximately 100 yards off the beach when a bystander witnessed him swept away by the tide late Sunday afternoon.
The search lasted approximately 24 hours before the decision to suspend the search was made. Rip tides are common along the North Carolina coast and care should be taken when swimming there.
Coast Guard units from New Jersey to North Carolina responded to 79 cases and assisted 86 people since Friday.
