CLEVELAND— Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard, and various local agencies are continuing to search, Friday, for a missing boater last seen Wednesday afternoon and reported overdue Thursday morning.
Missing is John Suppel of Lewiston, New York, who launched out of Wilson Tuscarora State Park in Wilson, New York, aboard a 16-foot camouflage pleasure craft.
Searchers from all agencies have searched more than 3,700 square miles over a 33-hour period.
Currently searching are air crews aboard a Canadian Hercules airplane and a Coast Guard Air Station Detroit MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, a boat crew aboard a 25-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Niagara, in Youngstown, New York, along with boat crews from Wilson, Olcott and Lewiston Counties. Friday’s search will center on mid-lake Ontario moving west.
Searching overnight were a Customs and Border Protection boat crew and an air crew aboard an Ocean Sentry airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Thursdays search crews included boat crews from Coast Guard Stations Niagara and Rochester; a boat crew from Canadian Coast Guard Station Port Weller; aircrews from Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, Ontario aboard a C-130 Hercules airplane and a Griffon helicopter; crews from the Niagara Sheriff’s Office, and crews from the Toronto Marine Patrol.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, New York, were notified by the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office at 9:45 a.m., Thursday after he was reported overdue. He was last heard from Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone with information regarding Mr. Suppel’s whereabouts should contact the Coast Guard at 716-843-9527.
