7th Coast Guard District
U.S. Coast Guard
News Release
*Corrected Copy* Coast Guard suspends search for missing boater near Hilton Head, S.C.
HILTON HEAD, S.C. - The Coast Guard and local agencies have suspended the search for a missing 50-year-old male who fell overboard 3-miles east of Hilton Head Island Wednesday at approximately 4:55 p.m.
The Coast Guard had incorrectly identified the missing man as Lewis Fredrick.
Missing is Willis Frazier, 50, of Hilton Head.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Charleston, S.C., received notification from a nearby boat that Frazier had fallen off the fishing vessel, Miss Pudgy, while attempting to make repairs and had not resurfaced. The reporting source indicated that he was not wearing a life jacket.
“We have conducted an exhaustive search of the area based on the best information we have. We are suspending our active search pending the development of new information. The cause of the accident will be investigated by the Coast Guard,” said Capt. Michael F. White, Jr., commander Coast Guard Sector Charleston.
The Coast Guard along with local agencies have search over 160 square-miles roughly the size of Manhattan, N.Y.
The following assets participated in the search:
* A 41-foot rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Tybee Island, Ga.
* The crew of the 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Tarpon
* An MH-65 helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Ga.
* The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
* South Carolina DNR fixed wing aircraft
* Beaufort County, S.C., Search and Rescue
* Beaufort County Beach Patrol
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