Coast Guard calls off search for 79-year-old diver missing off Key West
The U.S. Coast Guard ended its search for a 79-year-old North Palm Beach woman who went missing while scuba diving a shipwreck off Key West on Friday.
Ellen Ruth Domb was reported missing by her dive partner, who told authorities that she last saw her around 11 a.m. while they were diving the USNS Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a former missile tracking ship intentionally sunk in 2009 about seven miles south of Key West as an artificial reef.
Her dive partner said the two became separated in strong currents within two to three minutes after they entered the water, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
An Inverness man who was an experienced diver and certified scuba instructor died three weeks ago diving near the Vandenberg. Nicholas James Strazzulla, 50, passed out after descending between 150 and 200 feet near the wreck.
He was pronounced dead at Lower Keys Medical Center.
READ MORE: Man dies after diving Florida Keys shipwreck, Monroe sheriff’s office says
The Vandenberg is a 17,120-ton former military troop transport and missile-tracking ship that sits 140 feet on the bottom of the ocean. It is a challenging and popular deepwater dive destination.
The Coast Guard said in a statement Sunday afternoon that crews looked for Domb for 60 hours in an area of 2,780 square miles before calling off the search “pending new information.”
The sheriff’s office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also participated in the search.
The Coast Guard asks anyone with information about Domb, who is described as being 5-foot, 6-inches tall, to call Sector Key West at 305-292-8727.
