Coast Guard suspends search for woman missing in Ocracoke Inlet
The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 27-year-old woman missing in the water in the vicinity of Portsmouth Island in Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, Monday.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center received a report via 911 at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Saturday of a capsized canoe with two people aboard.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew located a conscious male survivor alongside a green canoe approximately 2.8 miles offshore of Drum Inlet, North Carolina, at approximately 9:54 a.m. on Sunday.
The survivor was hoisted into the aircraft and transported to Carteret Hospital in Morehead City, North Carolina.
A second survivor, the original reporting source, was found ashore on Great Island by a good samaritan, at which point he reported swimming to shore and had last seen the missing person in the early morning hours of Sunday.
The Coast Guard searched approximately 1,635 square nautical miles for 73 search hours.
“The decision to suspend a search is the toughest part of my responsibilities,” said Capt. Matt Baer, commander, Sector North Carolina. “Our hearts are with the family who lost a loved one during this incident.”
The following assets and agencies searched:
- An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City
- An HC-130 Hercules aircraft aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City
- An HC-130 Hercules aircraft aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater
- An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City
- A 24-foot shallow water special purpose craft boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet
- A 47-foot Motor Life Boat boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Hatteras Inlet
- A 47-foot Motor Life Boat boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Fort Macon
- Coast Guard Cutter Seahawk, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat
- Hyde County Sheriff’s Department
- North Carolina Wildlife
- National Park Services
