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| Press Release |
Date: July 1, 2007
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UPDATE: COAST GUARD LOCATES MISSING BOATER SAFELY AT HOME
IMPORTANT NOTE: Video interviews with survivor Michael Craig Walls and the lead rescue coordinator and commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Capt. Paul Thomas are available for download below. For video of the search and the debris remaining from Walls accident, click here. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Coast Guard rescue coordinators closed the case on two missing boaters on the Intra-Coastal Waterway near the James Turner Butler Blvd. Bridge here at approximately noon today after significant investigative work by rescue coordinators. Michael Craig Walls, 32, and Ray Ash of Jacksonville, Fla., were on a 12-foot johnboat last night when a 32-foot sport fishing vessel and the johnboat collided immediately sinking the vessel and sending the two men in the water at about 10 a.m.. The 32-foot boat stopped and picked up the men and took them to the Beach Blvd. Boat Ramp in Jacksonville Beach. The two men had lost two blades on their propeller and drifted into the navigational channel in the ICW when the accident occurred. A Good Samaritan heading north on the ICW called Coast Guard rescue coordinators and reported seeing fuel and debris in the vicinity of the JTB Bridge at about 1:40 a.m. The Good Samaritan had towed Walls and Ash to that area earlier in the evening and left them to fish near the bridge. The debris the boater saw matched the boat he towed earlier. The Coast Guard launched a helicopter rescue crew from Savannah, Ga., and a rescue boat crew from Mayport, Fla., to search the area. The crews spotted several lifejackets and floating debris in the area. Coast Guard crews searched the ICW and St. Johns River, Fla., throughout the night for missing boaters with the help of crews from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Meanwhile, Coast Guard rescue coordinators were looking for any information about the boaters they could find. Rescue coordinators contacted all of the commercial salvage companies in the area and asked them to provide the phone numbers of anyone who may have called for assistance Saturday night. Rescue coordinators called the numbers and eventually got a hold of Walls' wife who put them in touch with Walls. Investigators with FWC are investigating the incident. To download video, right-click on the links below and select "save target as" to save the clip to computer. Video # 2 - Michael Craig Walls explaining what happened and telling reporters he "said his prayers last night" because he feels lucky to be alive. ###
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