ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Coast Guard is reporting that it continues to search for a 32-year-old tow boat operator after receiveing a distress alert from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) near Great Egg Harbor. Missing is David McAuliffe.
The 45-foot Sea Tow boat Cape Hatteras departed Absecon Inlet at approximately 7:45 a.m. with one person aboard and was en route to Great Egg Harbor, according to the boat’s owner. At about 10:45 a.m. April 23, Coast Guard watchstanders received an EPIRB activation alert. The operator aboard the Cape Hatteras did not respond to cell phone or radio calls.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, a 45-foot Response Boat – Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Cape May, and the crew of the 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Finback, homeported in Cape May, plus members from several local shoreline police departments are searching for the missing tow boat operator. Members from the New Jersey State Police also assisted in the search.
It was reported Cape Hatteras had survival equipment aboard, including two survival suits and two life rafts.
This comes on the heels of a tragedy on Saturday morning, April 20, when two men died after their fishing boat capsized on the Chesapeake Bay.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources police confirmed the deaths to News4 Saturday afternoon. The Coast Guard identified them as David Carlton Fletcher, 43, and David Michael Chase, 55. Both men were from Lexington Park, MD. Four other people, including at least one teenager, were rescued from the 23-foot vessel. The sinking occurred approximately two miles south of Point Lookout State Park in St. Mary’s County.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that watchstanders overheard a broadcast by a local charter captain at around 8:30 a.m. Saturday asking for any assistance in locating the overturned boat. The charter captain told the Coast Guard that he had received a call from the sister of one of the people on the boat. The woman was told by her sister that the boat was taking on water, before communications were lost. Rough ocean conditions persisted in both instances.
