KENNEBUNKPORT, ME — The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man and three children who were reported to be in the water off the Maine coast.
A spokesman said the search was suspended at 8:21 a.m. Sunday pending further developments. Lt. Matthew Odom said searchers found no sign of a capsized boat, debris or people. He also said no one contacted authorities to report the group missing.
The Coast Guard said watchstanders at Sector Northern New England command center received a radio distress call Saturday at 10:30 a.m. from a man reporting his 14-foot boat capsizing with 3 children on onboard a 12 miles (19 kilometers) off Kennebunkport. He said they were in the water with life jackets. The Coast Guard released the Mayday call on social media Saturday.
They conducted a 22-hour search which included the following assets:
• Coast Guard Station South Portland
• Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor
• Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark
• Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
Search patterns spanned a total of 1,523 square nautical miles and included Maine Marine Patrol, Wells Police Department and other local participants.
“We take all calls for help seriously,” said Cdr. James McLay, Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator at Sector Northern New England. “We utilized every resource at our disposal and applied an extraordinary amount of search effort to locate these boaters. If there was anyone in distress we gave them the best possible chance for rescue.”
