The Coast Guard suspended its search Monday evening for two men who went missing near Mosquito Point on the Rappahannock River in Virginia, Sunday.
59-year-old Mark Ringenberg and 59-year-old Stephen Perkins departed from Weems, Virginia aboard a 15-foot Boston Whaler, Sunday morning. Later that evening, their boat was found washed ashore and unoccupied near Mosquito Point.
Dispatchers from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission contacted watchstanders at Sector Hampton Roads command center Sunday evening and notified them that the Boston Whaler was found with keys in the ignition, shoes on the deck and cold drinks in a cooler.
A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Milford Haven and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina was searching alongside Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Lancaster County, Middlesex County and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries searched for a combined total of 63 hours covering approximately 774 square miles.
“Suspending a search is never an easy decision to make and weighs heavy on everyone’s heart,” said Capt. Kevin Carroll, Sector Hampton Roads commander. “ There’s no way to express how sorry we are that we were unable to return Stephen and Mark home to their loved ones.”
The Coast Guard searched alongside the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Lancaster County, Middlesex County and Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Anyone with information should call the Sector Hampton Roads command center at 757-483-8567.