PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WNCT) — One day after resuming the search for a missing boater, the U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search again.
Coast Guard officials said Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. that the search had been suspended for Jeffrey Kale, 47, of Clover, S.C. Officials said Tuesday evening they had resumed the search off the coast of North Carolina after a good Samaritan located a vessel matching the description of the boat Kale was aboard, nearly 83 miles east of Wrightsville Beach. The discovery came after the Coast Guard called off the search Tuesday night.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the Kale family during this difficult time,” said Cmdr. Corrie Sergent, Sector North Carolina deputy commander. “Saving lives at sea drives our rescue crews to train and operate every single day with the hope to bring people home safely, which is why making the decision to suspend a search is truly one of the hardest things for our personnel to make and we do not take it lightly. We are grateful to the various Navy assets, commercial assistance, and multiple good Samaritans who have also assisted in the search.”
Officials said rescue crews searched by air and by sea for approximately 100 combined hours since the initial report and covered more than 11,690 square miles, roughly the size of Maryland.
After Kale’s boat was located on Tuesday morning with no one aboard, the Coast Guard resumed the search. He had been reported missing Saturday at approximately 10:30 p.m.
Rescue crews involved in the search:
- Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130 Hercules airplane
- Coastal patrol boat USCGC Steelhead (WPB 87324)
- U.S. Navy assets
- Multiple good Samaritan boaters
