Coast Guard halts search for a kayaker who disappeared in the Lower Keys
The U.S. Coast Guard has ended its search for a man who was reported missing Monday after taking off on a kayak in the Lower Keys.
Brian McAuley, 43, who stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall, was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt and blue shorts with a black stripe, the Coast Guard said.
After multiple crews searched 1,328 square miles, the agency announced late Thursday it had stopped operations, but could reopen the search at some point.
“We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Brian McAuley,” said Capt. Adam Chamie, the commanding officer at Sector Key West. “The decision to suspend a search is never easy, and we will revisit the case if new information pertaining to the search is discovered.”
McAuley’s girlfriend reported him missing to the Coast Guard at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, saying he hadn’t returned from kayaking about one mile off Geiger Key.
The Coast Guard said his yellow kayak was found overturned in the waters near Geiger Key, about five miles east of Key West.
The Coast Guard earlier this week tweeted a photo of McAuley holding up a bonnethead shark beneath blue skies with the water behind him.
“He sent it to his significant other earlier that day,” Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said of the photo. “He was fishing apparently.”
Anyone with information about McAuley is asked to call Coast Guard Sector Key West at 305-292-8727.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 11:43 AM.
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