BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

US Coast Guard searches for sailors, not looking at foul play

  • Three American sailors were last heard from near Mazatlan, Mexico
  • The search coordinator says U.S. and Mexico are searching "aggressively"
  • All three Americans were experienced sailors, their families say

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

(NewsNation) — The U.S. Coast guard and Mexican Navy are “aggressively” searching for three missing American sailors. The search coordinator says the U.S. is not looking into foul play in this case at the time.

“The level of aggressiveness that we’re pursuing in this search is at our highest level. We assessed it as a potential distress and we are providing fixed wing aircraft as well as Coast Guard cutters to assist the Mexican Navy who also is aggressively searching to the maximum extent possible,” Greg Higgins, search mission coordinator of the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Higgins joined “NewsNation Prime” to discuss what is known about the sailors’ path of travel and the weather conditions at the time.

“The sailing vessel ocean bound left Mazatlan, Mexico on the fourth of April with an intended stop in Cabo San Lucas, and then intended to continue up the coast to San Diego. We looked at the weather conditions at that time, approximately the sixth of April, and they were significant off the Baja peninsula, off the ocean of Cabo San Lucas, significant winds and significant waves if they were to have continued on,” Higgins said.

The three sailors Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien and William Gross were aboard a 44-foot La Fitte sailboat named Ocean Bound. They were last heard from on April 4, near Mazatlan, Mexico.

The three Americans are all experienced sailors, according to a joint statement from their families.

“Bill has over 50 years of sailing experience and is an extremely talented coastal cruiser. Kerry and Frank have 20 years sailing together and both hold captains licenses with the US Coast Guard,” according to the statement. “The sailing community has hundreds of additional vessels looking for our family members.”

Watch Higgins’ full interview in the player above.

Missing

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Cloudy

la

58°F Cloudy Feels like 58°
Wind
2 mph W
Humidity
91%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Cloudy skies. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
52°F Cloudy skies. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
3 mph SW
Precip
10%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Crescent