Missing diver off Longboat Key, FL

[robbiedew101]

UPDATE: Two of three missing divers found off Longboat Key | HeraldTribune.com

LONGBOAT KEY - UPDATE: Authorities have found two of the three divers who went missing 12 miles off Longboat Key.

The U.S. Coast Guard told SNN Local News 6 the men were not injured, and are assisting with the search of the third member of the dive team.

The divers, including an instructor, were reported missing around 3:30 p.m. Sunday after they did not resurface during an hour-long dive in the Gulf of Mexico.

Officials say the buoy chain the trio used to mark the dive broke free and drifted, making it difficult to pinpoint their exact location.

 

[DandyDon]

Good news: Coast Guard rescues divers off Longboat Pass | TBO.com

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three scuba divers who went missing this afternoon off of Longboat Pass in Sarasota County.

A Coast Guard boat located the first two men at around 5 p.m. More than two hours later a Coast Guard helicopter spotted the third man. The Coast Guard boat was dispatched to where theman was located, said Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios, a Coast Guard spokesman.

The three men were found in good condition and refused medical care, Rios said.

The Coast Guard received the call that the three men were missing at around 2:30 p.m. An anchor buoy they were using to mark their location drifted three miles out, Rios said.

Once the anchor buoy drifted, the men lost their location, Rios said.

A Coast Guard helicopter and boat scoured the waters 10 miles west of Longboat Pass searching for the divers, said Coast Guard Lt. Michael Persun.

The divers are experienced and had gone spearfishing, Persun said.