Coast Guard suspends search for missing boaters as sons ask for help finding their father

VENICE – The U.S. Coast Guard officially suspended the search for four missing boaters at 8 p.m. Monday night, pending new information.

The families of the four men, who went missing after leaving Venice on a fishing trip Saturday morning have been notified.

Boaters on the water are asked to stay vigilant and report any information that may be relevant to this case to Venice Police at 941-486-2444 or use radio Channel 16 VHF.

Monday afternoon, two sons of one of the missing men asked that boaters please keep an eye out and report anything that matches the description of his father and the missing boat – a 23-foot white SportCraft.

“That’s just all we ask,” said Ruben Mora Jr., who spoke to assembled media along with his brother Juan Raul Mora. about their missing father, Ruben Mora Sr. 54, of Port Charlotte.

Ruben Mora Sr. was on a friend’s boat along with North Port residents Angel Hernandez Munoz, 38; Julio Cesar Cordero Briones, 37; and Alfonso Vargas Parra, 35. Mora had asked his sons to go with him. They had to work but made plans to meet up Saturday evening.

When he didn’t contact them that night, the two brothers figured he was tired after a day on the water and was sleeping.

They learned he was missing Sunday morning, which was the same time the foursome was reported missing to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and Venice Police.

Juan Raul Mora noted that their father has high blood pressure and diabetes and is taking several medications and would likely need medical attention when they are found.

They described their father as an avid fishermen who enjoyed being on the water all the time and a courteous angler, who – if someone else had a fish on the line – would reel in his line and “enjoy the show,” and in turn, help out on a search if others were reported missing.

“I can’t imagine what he’s going through, what his friends are going through,” Ruben Mora Jr. said. “I just want him back here.”

Rough seas hamper search

During a Monday afternoon press conference, Venice Police. Capt. Andy Leisenring and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Capt. Steven Stasko said that while the weather might have been favorable when the men left Venice, it had deteriorated later that day and Sunday and rough surf was hindering the search Monday.

“From what I understand Saturday, the seas were not too rough although we did have some heavy fog come in that afternoon so that can always be a factor, then going into overnight and into Sunday, the winds picked up, the seas picked up,” Leisenring said.

Stasko noted that even on Monday, “We’re in the five- to six-foot sea condition range and those waves add to a disturbance on the waterline, which makes it difficult to see anything – that’s where our air assets are very helpful.”

Boaters on the water Monday were asked to stay vigilant and report any information that may be relevant to Venice Police Detective Courtney Zak at 941-486-2444 or czak@venicefl.gov, or use radio Channel 16 VHF.

Though there was no float plan filed, family members have told authorities where the four typically prefer to fish.

Local authorities have been searching as far as 10 miles offshore, with several Coast Guard vessels, as well as search planes and helicopters searching from 10 miles and beyond.

As of late Monday morning, the agencies had searched more than 4,600 square miles of surface in the Gulf, and are going out up to 80 nautical miles offshore.

“We’re doing everything we can to find the four men that are currently lost,” Leisenring said.

Agencies involved in the search at this point include Venice Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, Sarasota Police Department, Venice Fire Rescue, Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Lee County Sheriff's Office and Sea Tow Venice. In addition to vessels, the Coast Guard and Sarasota County Sheriff’s office have conducted aerial searches.

Search area from Longboat Key to Captiva

The search area has stretched as far north as Longboat Pass in Manatee County and as far south as Captiva in Collier County.

The truck and boat trailer left at Marina Park had been retrieved Monday.

Venice Police did not release which of the four men own the boat, because it is part of the ongoing investigation.

It is also not known what safety equipment the four may have on board with them, though all four were described as experienced fishermen.

Both Mora brothers expressed thanks for the current search efforts, while asking that boaters continue to be vigilant until the four men are found.

“We know a lot of people are out there trying to help,” Juan Raul Mora said. “The more the better.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for four fishermen missing in Gulf