Search suspended for dad, son who vanished on shrimping trip, Texas officials say
UPDATE: The search has been suspended for a Texas man and his 15-year-old son who were reported missing after failing to return from a shrimping trip in the Gulf, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The announcement came after crews searched “approximately 77 square miles for over 21 combined hours,” the Coast Guard said in a June 2 news release, adding that the search was halted at 7:55 a.m.
The 50-year-old man was a deckhand on “My Possum,” a 40-foot shrimping vessel, officials said. The wife of the vessel’s owner reported them overdue.
“Whenever we send our rescue crews out, it is with the ardent hope we can bring everyone home safely,” Homar Barrera, search and rescue mission coordinator for Sector Corpus Christi said. “Unfortunately, after considering all pertinent factors, we made the difficult decision to suspend our search today.”
The original story is below:
A search is on for a Texas man and his 15-year-old son who went missing during a shrimping trip in the Gulf, officials say.
The 50-year-old man and his son set off in the morning Saturday, June 1, near Port Lavaca in a 40-foot shrimping vessel dubbed “My Possum,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. They left at 5 a.m., heading toward Magnolia Beach, where they hoped to catch some shrimp, and were supposed to be back by 10:30 a.m., officials said.
There was still no sign of them nearly an hour past their scheduled return, the Coast Guard said, and the wife of the vessel’s owner reported them overdue at about 11:20 a.m.
Rescuers began scouring the area by boat and by helicopter, officials said. A capsized boat matching the description of the My Possum has been found near Magnolia Beach, according to rescuers, but neither the man nor his son have been found.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Coast Guard, Sector Corpus Christi, at 361-939-0450.
Port Lavaca is a roughly 130-mile drive southwest from Houston.
This story was originally published June 2, 2024 at 9:43 AM with the headline "Search suspended for dad, son who vanished on shrimping trip, Texas officials say."