Coast Guard suspends search for firefighters missing at sea
The Coast Guard has suspended its search for two firefighters missing at sea.
The search was suspended Thursday at sundown.
Officials said that search efforts stretched as far north as New England.
Capt. Mark Vlaun said they reached a point where computer models analyzing the areas that already have been searched showed there's no reasonable chance further searching would result in success.
The Coast Guard and scores of volunteers began looking for the firefighters last Saturday, a day after they were supposed to have returned to Cape Canaveral.
Interim Jacksonville Fire Chief Keith Powers says family members are heartbroken by the news.
McCluney, a member of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, and Walker, a Fairfax, Virginia firefighter, were last seen Friday leaving the Christopher Columbus Boat Ramp in Port Canaveral in a 24-foot fishing boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Officials said the pair were believed to have gone offshore around 30 miles and were expected to return around 6 p.m. They were heading toward a fishing spot known as 8A reef.
"We're in some critical times right now," Jacksonville Fire Rescue Chief Keith Powers said Wednesday night. "Time has really become our enemy."
McCluney's wife, Stephanie Young McCluney told WESH 2 News that search crews on Monday had found her husband's tackle bag about 50 miles off the coast of St. Augustine. Following the discovery of the tackle bag by a Good Samaritan, the Coast Guard said it would be focused on the area where that bag was found.
There were no significant clues found on Tuesday or Wednesday and searchers expanded their coverage area north.
Officials believe the firefighters' boat could be as far north as New England based on currents.
The Coast Guard, late Tuesday, called the search a "race against time."
McCluney's wife told WESH 2 News she's grateful for the support she's received from the communities from Jacksonville down to Port Canaveral.
Walker's wife Natasha spent eleven hours Tuesday flying from Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville to the waters off St. Augustine, in the area where the tackle bag had been found Monday.
“I need to be up there...feel like I’m searching too," Walker said before she boarded the plane Tuesday.
The Coast Guard had three aircrafts and three ships searching along with partners from other agencies.