Migrants on remote Florida Keys island reported a man missing at sea. Then came a search
After locating 23 people on a remote island in Dry Tortugas National Park off Key West Saturday, federal officials launched an air and sea search for a man the others said jumped from their migrant boat.
The people, from Cuba, were on Loggerhead Key. The had arrived at the island about 70 miles from Key West on a homemade boat, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
They told agents the man jumped from the vessel when they were still at sea, federal agents say.
After about 24 hours a Coast Guard air crew based in Clearwater saw a man in the water about seven nautical miles north of Loggerhead Key, the agency said.
The man was taken about the Coast Guard cutter Charles Sexton. The ship’s medical crew determined he needed more care, so Monroe County’s helicopter ambulance took him to a mainland hospital, where he was listed in stable condition as of Tuesday, according to the Coast Guard.
All 24 migrants are being processed for removal back to Cuba, the Coast Guard said.
