The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a man who disappeared trying to swim from his broken-down boat in Norfolk Sunday night.
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads, Norfolk Police, and other rescue crews were on the scene at Willoughby Spit, where the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads, and Willoughby Bay all meet.
Norfolk Police say first responders were called to 8th View Street in Ocean View around 6:10 p.m. Sunday. USCG got the call from a pair of kayakers who watched a man swim away from his disabled boat, and the man didn’t resurface.
The Coast Guard was searching by boat and by helicopter, together with crews from the Norfolk Fire Department, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Norfolk Police and the Virginia Marine Police. Crews covered a total of 164 square miles before calling off the search.
“One of the hardest parts of my job is making the decision to suspend a search for someone who has entered the water and hasn’t made it out,” said Capt. Kevin Carroll, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads. “It is with great sadness that I announce this suspension, and my heart is with the friends and families who have been impacted by this unfortunate circumstance.”
-Meg Walburn Viviano
