A search is underway in Florida for a father and his three children who were reported missing Sunday from a 29-foot sailboat.
The Coast Guard said it started its search Tuesday near Englewood for the man, his 13- and 15-year-old sons, and his 17-year-old daughter.
The Coast Guard announced Wednesday morning that they found debris, tarp, life jackets, water gallon jugs, shoes near the search area.
The Kimberly family was last seen Sunday afternoon while boating on a 29-foot sailboat near Englewood, Florida, authorities said.
A family member confirmed that debris belonged to the missing family, the Coast Guard said.
The Kimberly family has not been found.
According to the Coast Guard sector in St. Petersburg, a concerned family member said the missing family was last heard from Sunday morning when they left Sarasota at 7 a.m. to sail to Fort Myers to repair the boat. The man called his brother around 3 p.m. Sunday to tell him that they were offshore in Englewood in 6-foot-deep water.
The National Weather Service in Tampa was cautioning boaters Sunday about increasing northeast winds because of a weak cold front pushing through Central Florida, but forecasters stopped short of issuing a small craft advisory.
Nicole Carlisle, a meteorologist with the NWS in Tampa, said the threshold to issue an advisory is winds blowing at 23 mph and it doesn’t appear they reached that strength.
“There was nothing too out of the ordinary,” said Carlisle, who reviewed archived radar images of Sunday’s weather. “It’s definitely possible there was a storm but we had a small craft exercise caution, which is a step below an advisory.”
The Coast Guard is asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of the family to call the Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg at 727-824-7506.
– Please visit The Palm Beach Post and WFTV for the latest on this developing story.
About the Author
