| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District |
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| Press Release |
Date: Dec. 28, 2004 Contact: |
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COAST GUARD LOCATES THREE MISSING SINCE CHRISTMAS **Editor's Note: The Air Station Clearwater C-130 crew responsible for this rescue will be available for interviews at the Air Station at 2 this afternoon. The survivors are expected to be reunited with family members this afternoon at Coast Guard Air Station Miami. Video from that reunion should be available from your South Florida affiliates.** MIAMI - The three fishermen missing since Christmas day from a recreational fishing trip have been located by Coast Guard crews who have been searching from Homestead to northern Palm Beach County for the past two days. A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., located a vessel matching the description of the missing boat approximately 17 miles off the coast east of Lake Worth Inlet, Fla., with three people on board waving their arms. The Coast Guard notified the nearby USS Boone who safely picked up the men and confirmed they were the missing trio. A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Miami is enroute to transport the survivors ashore. Initial reports are that the survivors are in good condition. The three men, Jorge Pena, 45, Juan Suarez, 55, and Daniel Gibb, 48, left Bayfront marina at approximately 5 p.m. Saturday, on a fishing trip, and called the Coast Guard from a cellular phone at 7 a.m. Sunday, claiming their boat was disabled and they did not know their position, but could see the Miami skyline. Shortly after that, cellular communications were lost with the men on board. The call initiated a massive search coordinated by Coast Guard Sector Miami that has included numerous sorties by boats, cutters and aircraft. Contributing to the difficulty of this search was the lack of a working VHF-FM radio to allow better comms between the individuals in distress and potential rescuers. Cellular phones should only be considered a secondary means of distress communication for boaters. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
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