Search Called Off Florida Coast

((HT: ABC 28 Tampa))

After 50 missions spanning 230 hours, the Coast Guard says they will officially suspend their search for three missing boaters at sundown ((pictured, thanks WFTS-TV)). Coast Guard Captain Timothy Close said Tuesday that they are confident that there are no survivors on the surface, saying that their 24,000 square mile search would have turned up any additional survivors.

The two NFL players, Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, and a third man, William Bleakley, have been missing since their boat capsized off the Florida coast over 60 hours ago. Coast Guard officials had been holding out hope due to the size and good health of the men.A Coast Guard C-130, an N-60 helicopter and three cutters searched a narrow area Tuesday. Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn't prevent.

"I can't emphasize this enough," Close said. "We do not want any additional search and rescue cases resulting from people who are outside their experience level."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat, which was still on the water.William Bleakley's father said he felt comfortable with the Coast Guard's decision and that his expectations lowered after only one survivor was found.

"I think they did everything that they could," Robert Bleakley said of the Coast Guard. "I think they were not to be found."

The lone survivor so far, Nick Schuyler, was conscious but appeared weak as he was loaded onto a stretcher Monday. His father, Stuart Schuyler, said the former University of South Florida player was bruised and dehydrated but "looks OK." His condition was upgraded Tuesday morning from serious to stable.

Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been hanging onto the hull that a Coast Guard cutter discovered 35 miles off Clearwater.According to Captain Close, Schuyler said the men were attempting to raise the boat's anchor around 5:00 p.m. Saturday when their boat capsized.

None of the men was wearing a life jacket, and they had to swim beneath the vessel to retrieve the vests.It's believed the three missing men were wearing their life jackets when they slipped away from the boat at some unknown point.Nick Schuyler's mother, Marsha Schuyler, said her son told her he survived by thinking about how he didn't want her to go to his funeral.The family's joy at him being found alive was tempered by the search for his friends.

"We still have three men missing, and we're not going to talk too much until we find these guys," said his father, Stuart Schuyler. "We're all praying for them. These guys are all very close friends."

Searchers had previously covered 16,000 square miles of ocean but the area being searched was much smaller since they found Schuyler, Close said.Bruce Cooper, the father of Marquis Cooper who is also a prominent sportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix, said in a statement Monday that the family has been overwhelmed with calls, e-mails and text messages from well-wishers. He and other family members were in Tampa awaiting news on the search.

"We remain hopeful that Marquis will be found and returned to us," Cooper said.Smith's family planned to drive Tuesday to Florida from Richmond, Va., after the snowy weather in the East made getting a flight impossible, said Yolanda Newbill, one of Smith's sisters. She said they have been in contact with the Coast Guard every few hours since the search began.

"We have total faith that (he) will be coming home," Newbill said. James Allen, a marine safety consultant who once worked search and rescue operations with the Coast Guard, said the chances of finding survivors diminish after people have been in the water three days.Survivors have been found who were floating for days, but he added "you just can't swim forever."

The four men left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas got heavy, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. A relative alerted the Coast Guard early Sunday after the men did not return as expected. The Coast Guard said it did not receive a distress signal.

The men were aboard an Everglades-manufactured boat, which is built with compressed foam encased in Fiberglass, making it difficult to sink. The weather had improved, with waves subsiding to 6 to 8 feet, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barron said.However, Bob Zales, president of National Association of Charter Boat Operators, said waves that high can capsize a boat the size of Cooper's.

"A boat that size, personally, I wouldn't get out any farther than 20 or 30 miles offshore," Zales said. "But I see people all the time 40, 50 miles offshore."

Carson Chambers has coverage from St. Petersburg...