US Coast Guard suspends search for a 7-year-old Alabama boy missing in the Gulf of Mexico

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — The U.S. Coast Guard has recovered the bodies of two boaters off the Alabama coast but has suspended the search for a missing 7-year-old boy after scouring the area over the weekend.

Searchers were unable to find 7-year-old Hunter Slezak, who was on a boat that went missing Friday. The search was suspended Sunday evening after rescue crews searched an area about the size of Delaware, Coast Guard officials wrote in a news release.

The water sports enthusiasts were last heard from on Friday afternoon. Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report Friday evening of the overdue vessel, named MARTY ANN, which had three people on board.

Searchers on Saturday found a debris field about four miles south of Dauphin Island, a barrier island off the coast of Alabama. The bodies of Sam Wooley, 69, and Michael Slezak, 40, were recovered, but the child was not found.

“We are deeply saddened and extend our sincere condolences to the families, friends and communities affected by this heartbreaking and tragic incident,” Capt. Robert Tucker, deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector Mobile, said in a news release. “Suspending an active search for a missing child is an exceptionally difficult decision and is made only after the most exhaustive efforts have been made.”

Michael Slezak was a coach and teacher at Semmes Middle School in Semmes, Alabama, according to the school. Semmes is located approximately 19 miles northwest of Mobile, Alabama.

“Coach Slezak will always be remembered, and his legacy will live on in each of us,” school officials wrote in a Facebook post.