The search for at least three people who went missing after an 18-foot boat capsized in Jacksonville, Florida, killing one person, was suspended Saturday night.
The Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department responded to a report of a capsized vessel with multiple people in the water near Goat Island on St. Johns River around 8 p.m. Friday, Capt. Eric Prosswimmer told NBC News.
Four people were on top of the boat and four more were possibly underneath it, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which also responded to the incident. The four on top of the boat were rescued from the water, the Coast Guard said.
One of those pulled from the river, possibly part of the group under the vessel, was “unresponsive,” the agency said.
“One of the four missing was found and unfortunately was deceased,” Prosswimmer said. Officials did not identify the victim.
The other three reported to have been under the boat were described as an adult and two minors, officials said.
The Coast Guard said Saturday night that it suspended its search for the missing “pending the development of new information.” No additional victims were found in the water following a 17-hour search that spanned more than 270 square miles, it said.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of those missing,” Lt. Cmdr. Barton Nanney, a Coast Guard search coordinator, said in a statement. “Suspending search efforts is an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking decision, made only after an exhaustive and thorough search.”
Earlier Saturday, crews used divers, boats, helicopters and drones to search for those thought to be under the boat but did not find anyone, officials said.
The cause of the boat’s capsizing is under investigation, the Coast Guard said.
