Navy and Coast Guard unable to find missing boater near White Point Beach

The Coast Guard as well as the Navy SAR unit on the Patuxent River searched for a man south of White Point Beach on the lower Potomac River for several hours, but was not located.

According to officials, four men were coming back from a local fishing tournament Saturday in declining weather conditions.

Watch standers at Coast Guard Sector Maryland – National Capital Region reportedly got several reports Saturday evening from friends and family of the boaters saying a 32-foot fishing vessel, Reel Intimidator, was taking on water and should have been tied up already.

Officials say, Sector Maryland – NCR then issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a 45-foot response boat- medium boat crew from Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes and an MH-60 Jay hawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to help. Officials say, officers from Maryland State Police, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland Natural Resources Police, and St. Mary’s County Fire also launched to help.

Around 6:30AM, the MH-60 Jayhawk crew reportedly found the vessel overturned southeast of White Point Beach with one person on top of the hull. The boater was reportedly transferred to Medstar St. Mary’s Hospital. Officials say that his condition is unknown.

Around 8:50AM, a Coast Guard boat crew and good samaritan reportedly found two boaters unresponsive.

Officials say rescuers searched approximately 279 square nautical miles.

“The Coast Guard extends its deepest sympathies to the friends and families who lost loved ones from this tragedy,” said Cmdr. Michael Batchelder, deputy commander, Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region. “The decision to suspend a search effort is always one of the most difficult.”