Coast Guard Suspends Search for Missing Sailors

After an area over 5,000 square miles for the four missing sailors from a boat which ran aground near the Farallon Islands on Saturday afternoon, the Coast Guard has suspended its search, the agency announced late Sunday evening.

"The decision to suspend a search and rescue case like this is never an easy one to make," said Captain Cynthia Stowe, Sector San Francisco commanding officer.

Four of the eight sailors on the Low Speed Chase were accounted for hours after the boat's grounding, the Coast Guard said. Three were rescued, and a fourth was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The search and rescue effort was halted shortly after 8 p.m. on Sunday evening. Teams had been searching for the crewmembers since the Coast Guard was alerted at 3 p.m. on Saturday that the 38-ft. boat had run aground.

Aircraft employed in the search included a C-130 airplane from Air Station Sacramento, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station San Francisco and two Pave Hawk helicopters from the 129th Air National Guard Rescue Wing at Moffett Field near Sunnyvale, the agency reported. On the water, the Coast Guard used a 225-ft. Coast Guard Cutter Aspen, a 87-ft. Cutters Pike and Sockeye and a 47-ft. Motor Life Boat.

The Coast Guard extends our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the lost crewmen and the deceased," Stowe said. "They will all be in our thoughts and prayers."

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