Search suspended for three American sailors missing off Mexican coast

 A search for three American sailors who went missing off the Mexican coast has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard announced on Wednesday.

“An exhaustive search was conducted by our international search and rescue partner, Mexico, with the U.S. Coast Guard and Canada providing additional search assets,” said Cmdr. Gregory Higgins, command center chief for Coast Guard District 11, in a statement. “Unfortunately, we found no evidence of the three Americans’ whereabouts or what might have happened.”

The Coast Guard noted the search was suspended “pending further developments.”

William Gross, Kerry O’Brien and Frank O’Brien were aboard the 44-foot La Fitte sailing vessel Ocean Bound when they left Mazatlán, Mexico, en route to San Diego, Calif., the Coast Guard said. They were last heard from on April 4 near Mazatlán.

The trio had reportedly made plans to stop in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, two days later, but they never arrived.

Mexican Navy and U.S. Coast Guard responders conducted 281 hours of searching over 200,057 square nautical miles, according to the release, but no sightings or evidence of the vessel or the three sailors were found. 

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3961031-search-suspended-for-three-american-sailors-missing-off-mexican-coast/