UPDATE at 6 p.m. Wednesday: One body was found. Full article here.
A search for a missing sailboat with a family on board discovered a debris field 33 miles off Florida shores Wednesday morning. The debris included four waterbottles, one or two tennis shoes, a basketball, a propane tank, six life jackets, and a kayak that the boat towed.
A father sailing with his three teens was reported missing near Englewood, Fla., on Tuesday, June 21. The Coast Guard launched a search and found debris that was consistent with items on the missing boat, Coast Guard Captain Gregory Case said at a Wednesday press conference broadcasted live by local Fox 13 News.
The debris is a “dire finding,” Case said. But it’s also heartening, as it confirmed the Coast Guard has been searching in the right area.
“We’re continuing the search now,” Case said.
#UPDATE #BreakingNews @USCGSoutheast C130 aircrew conducting first light search for missing family. pic.twitter.com/s4REO1fwgD
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 22, 2016
Ace Kimberly, 45, from Sarasota and his teenagers Roger Kimberly, 13, Donny Kimberly, 15, and Rebecca Kimberly, 17, left Sarasota at 7 a.m. on Sunday and headed to Fort Myers for repairs on the 29-foot sailboat.
Around 3 p.m. that day, the father called his brother and said the sailboat was in 6-foot seas and he was “attempting to survive with his children offshore of Englewood and requested weather information,” the Coast Guard stated in a press release.
When the family didn’t turn up in Fort Myers, the brother contacted the Coast Guard on Tuesday and the agency sent a helicopter, an airplane, and three boats to search for the family.
The Coast Guard searched through the night.
The aircraft discovered the debris about 33 miles off Sanibel Island on Wednesday morning.
#BreakingNews: USCG aircrews locate debris field approximately 33nm off Sanibel Island. 6 life jackets found, no sign of missing family.
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 22, 2016
