A group of friends go missing after a deep-sea fishing excursion off the coast of Georgia, sparking a frantic search by the U.S. Coast Guard 80 miles offshore.
The trio – identified last week as Dalton Conway, Caleb Wilkinson and Tyler Barlow – have been missing since October 14, after their 30-foot vessel failed to dock in Brunswick as planned last Thursday.
Nearly a week later, family and friends still haven’t heard a word. The Coast Guard is now calling the search ‘complicated’ due to the limited information it has received about the crew’s future whereabouts.
Some family members admit they feel “stomach aches” at the thought of the group’s future fate, but searchers said in a statement they remain “hopeful” they will be found – despite having searched around 20,000 square meters since Friday have searched nautical miles.
The search has since expanded further north of Brunswick into the Carolinas, leaving loved ones of the missing hoping for a miracle.
Caleb – the only inexperienced fisherman on board – is seen in an undated photo on the still-missing vessel, having recently taken up deep-sea fishing and taken a job with the boat’s captain
Dalton’s sister, Stevie Conway — who is also Caleb’s girlfriend — told Action News Jax over the weekend, “It’s absolutely terrifying. We are sick to our stomachs.
“Lots of tears and meetings,” she added. “Coming together to try to lift each other up and stay positive when we all want to fall apart.”
The group, known to extend fishing trips to maximize their catch, subsequently went missing for three days and has still not been found, with their communications systems down since Saturday.
That said, a sensor that went off when one of the emergency rafts was on board hitting the water has yet to sound – giving family members like Stevie some hope that they are still lost at sea.
Coast Guard officials expressed similar optimism in their own statement after beginning their search Friday.
They searched all weekend and again all day Monday, but have not yet declared the search a recovery mission, which would be a good sign.
Speaking to the CBS affiliate, Conway said, “We’re staying positive through all of this and hoping that at some point the Coast Guard calls us with some good, positive news.”
Such news has yet to come as of Monday evening – despite both Dalton and Tyler being professional fishermen who regularly make these types of trips, while the 30-foot Carol Anne is reportedly well equipped to do so.
The 30-foot Carol Ann set sail with all three on board on October 14 and has still not been found, even after a 20,000 square nautical mile search of the area.
Searching all day over the weekend and again on Monday, officials have yet to declare the search a recovery mission despite coming up empty-handed after four days of searching
That said, it was the first outing for Caleb, who is seen in a creepy photo taken on the deck of the boat sometime before their excursion.
His brother, Cameron Wilkinson, spoke of his sibling’s nautical inexperience as he described how he recently decided to take up deep-sea fishing and take a job with the boat’s captain, Dalton Conway.
“Caleb has always been very careful about everything he’s done, and if he didn’t feel comfortable with Dalton and went there, he wouldn’t have done it in the first place,” Cameron explained to ABC News.
“We’re all hoping they’re just drifting and trying to figure out what to do. We have no idea what’s going on. Honestly, we just hope they come home.”
He added: “Me and him growing up we never really had any experience with boats, fishing and stuff like that. We always fished in ponds and stuff, but never on a boat.”
The Coast Guard, meanwhile, said 16 aircraft and U.S. Coast Guard stations stretching from Miami to North Carolina are assisting in the search, which came up empty-handed for the fourth consecutive time on Monday.
That said, a sensor designed to go off if one of the emergency rafts on board hits the water has yet to sound, leaving family members like Stevie Conway – Dalton’s sister and Caleb’s girlfriend – some hoping they are still lost at sea
That day, Coast Guard Sector Charleston Lieutenant Commander Jason Erickson theorized that if the group ran into trouble due to a drift caused by the infamous Gulf Stream, “the drift would eventually take them into the Gulf Stream, which is moving at a faster pace towards would move northeast. .’
Speaking to ABC, he reiterated how the boat was well equipped with life jackets, a satellite and emergency beacons necessary to maintain communication in an emergency, and that no such warnings were triggered.
“We know that the boat had an electronic beacon on board, which we call an EPIRB, and we know that that beacon was not activated,” Erickson explained as the search ended its fourth day.
‘It’s supposed to activate itself as soon as it’s submerged in the water, and then it’s supposed to release and move into a position that indicates some sort of distress.
“We have not received any beacons that have gone off. That’s a reason to be hopeful,” he explained.
The search will resume at dawn Tuesday, officials said.