Coast Guard suspends search for missing man near Sandbridge, Va.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for a 35-year-old man who reportedly entered the water to assist a 13-year-old child near Little Island State Park, July 10, 2019. The Coast Guard initially received the report of the missing man from Virginia Beach dispatch at approximately 1 p.m., July 9, 2019. Crews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and Coast Guard Station Little Creek searched a total of 347 square miles. U.S. Coast Guard image.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Coast Guard suspended its search for a 35-year-old man who reportedly entered the water to assist a 13-year-old child near Little Island State Park, Wednesday.

The Coast Guard initially received the report of the missing man from Virginia Beach dispatch at approximately 1 p.m., Tuesday.

Crews from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and Coast Guard Station Little Creek searched a total of 347 square miles.

Personnel from the Virginia Beach Fire Department, Virginia Beach Police Helicopter, Virginia Beach Police Department, Virginia Marine Resource Commission, Virginia Marine Police, National Parks Service and the False Cape State Park also participated in the search efforts on shore, air and sea.

“We never make the decision to suspend lightly and in this particular case, it’s especially difficult,” said Capt. Kevin Carroll, commander of Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads. “We share our deepest sympathies with the family of a man who risked his own life to save another.”

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Coast Guard, local partners searching for missing man near Sandbridge, Va.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn (archive).

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Coast Guard is searching for a 35-year-old man who was reported missing after entering the water to assist a 13-year-old child reportedly caught in a rip current near Little Island State Park, Tuesday.​

Virginia Beach dispatch notified Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders of the missing man at approximately 1 p.m., after he saved a student from a rip current while chaperoning during a class trip.​

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and a 45-foot Response Boat — Medium boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Little Creek are currently searching alongside crews from the Virginia Beach Fire Department and the Virginia Marine Police.​

Anyone with additional information regarding this case should contact the Sector Hampton Roads command center on VHF-FM channel 16 or at 757-638-6641.

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