NFL Players Among Missing Boaters In Florida
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NFL Players Amond Missing Boaters In Florida
Monday, families and friends of four boaters, including two NFL football players, are praying for their safe return. They went on a weekend fishing trip in Florida and haven't been heard from since....
Monday, families and friends of four boaters, including two NFL football players, are praying for their safe return. They went on a weekend fishing trip in Florida and haven’t been heard from since. ABC News’ Matt Gutman has more on the story.
Published: March 2, 2009
Updated: March 2, 2009
Clearwater, FL—Stuart Schuyler, Nick Schuyler’s father: “21 foot boat, 13 foot waves, doesn’t sound good.“
A fishing trip among friends in Florida’s Gulf Coast has turned into a Coast Guard search and rescue mission.
Two of the missing boaters are NFL players…Corey Smith, of the Detroit Lions, and Marquis Cooper, a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders. Joining them were two former college football players…Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler.
The four men failed to return from their boating trip, Saturday night. The group left earlier that morning from a dock, in Clearwater, Florida, where Cooper’s truck and boat trailer still remain.
Stuart Schuyler: “I’m expecting the worst. It’s very difficult out there, right now.“
The weather had been calm when the men first went out, but then the surf got increasingly rough. The Coast Guard says they did not receive a distress call from the missing boaters, but friends and family members became concerned when they hadn’t returned and alerted authorities.
Due to the choppy water conditions, the search is mainly being conducted from the air.
Captain Tim Close, U.S Coast Guard: “We don’t have any other agencies joining in, mostly because of the weather conditions.“
Relatives of the boaters say they had flares and life jackets aboard.
Jackie Schuyler: “If anybody can survive this, his son can, he is very determined.“
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