A missing boater in the Florida Keys is ‘not lost at sea anymore,’ Coast Guard says

UPDATE: The Coast Guard on Friday said Jorge Gallart Curbello is no longer missing after hearing from the person who made the report.

“We don’t have the full details, just that the reporting source said he was not lost at sea anymore,” said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Jose Hernandez.

The Coast Guard on Friday ended the search that began a day before. Hernandez did not know the boater’s condition and said nothing indicates that this was a false report.

“Sometimes people worry about each other and sometimes we get those kinds of calls,” Hernandez said. “Regardless, it’s the Coast Guard’s due diligence to do the search.”

In a tweet Friday, the Coast Guard added that it “has limited resources and reminds boaters to file a float plan, use a marine radio and an electronic location beacon, as they help reduce response times and preserve resources.”

ORIGINAL STORY

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a man who disappeared on a solo fishing trip in the Florida Keys.

Jorge Gallart Curbello was reported overdue on a white 22-foot Sea Fox boat that headed out Tuesday from Hurricane Hole Marina on Stock Island. He was headed to Boca Grande Key, the Coast Guard said.

The search began Thursday but he was reported missing earlier this week.

“It was reported Tuesday, but there was not much information to go on,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Jose Hernandez, a Coast Guard spokesman.

Gallart Curbello had two friends with him at first, but he dropped them off at the marina and said he was going fishing alone, Hernandez said.

“That’s the last time anybody heard from him,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez did not have the missing man’s age or hometown available on Thursday.

Boca Grande Key is a small island about 14 miles west of Stock Island, which borders Key West. On weekends and holidays, the spot is often crowded with boaters.

The island is within the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. Half of the beach there is closed to protect wildlife.

This developing story will be updated

This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.