FWC officers rescue a boater who went missing in the Florida Keys
Florida fish and wildlife officers found an overdue boater safe — but stranded at sea — more than 18 hours after he left shore in the Florida Keys this week.
The man, who the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has not named, left Big Coppitt Key in the Lower Keys about 2 p.m. Monday in an 18-foot motorboat, said agency spokeswoman Arielle Callender.
He was due back at 7:30 p.m., Callender said, adding that when he didn’t arrive home, his wife called the Coast Guard. The FWC received the call that he was overdue at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the agency.
The FWC and Coast Guard searched for the mariner by air and sea, Callender said. Around 8:45 a.m., Callender said an FWC air crew found the boat run aground with the throttle fully engaged in the Calda Channel — about eight miles from Big Coppitt in the Gulf of Mexico side of Key West.
Callender added the pilot of the plane then saw the man in waist-deep water signaling to the aircraft.
“FWC officers were able to make contact with the individual, confirm him to be the missing boater, and bring both him and his vessel safely back to shore,” she said.
