Coast Guard searching for missing kayaker

[Nakamoto2]

Not sure if everybody saws this but if you were out in the area and may have seen someone with a lime green and white kayak around the Jacksonville Beach Pier area let the Coast Guard know.




JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. -- The Coast Guard has joined the search for a missing kayaker out at Jacksonville Beach. Garth Sangree, 22, was reportedly on a lime green and white kayak around the Jacksonville Beach Pier.

According to a press release from the Coast Guard, the Jacksonville Police Department notified watchstanders in the command center about the situation at 2:40 Sunday afternoon. He is 6'2" tall and weighs about 190 pounds.

His car was found at the same place it was left at 16th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach and does not appear to have been disturbed, according to Jacksonville Beach police.

He was reportedly going out by himself Saturday. He was last seen Friday at 5 p.m.

A rescue crew from Station Mayport was launched at 4 p.m. There is also an HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater is also aiding in the search. A crew from a helicopter from Air Station in Savannah was sent out at 6 p.m.

The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and Nassau County Sheriff's Office are local agencies involved.

If you know any information, contact the Sector Jacksonville command center at 904-564-7500, and select option zero.

[GLyncker]

Best of luck to all of the searchers and to this young man.

[islandspeed2001]

Any updates Ron? Would think that if he was going to launch near the pier, there should have been someone who saw him out on the water.

[Nakamoto2]

I haven't seen anything yet but what is on the news. I wonder what took so long to figure things out. It said that he was last seen on Friday night with plans on going out on the kayak Saturday but the CG was not informed until Sunday night by the Jacksonville Beach Police.

[Gatorbite]

I sure hope this kid had the required saftey equipment with him, especially so with him going offshore. Then with the heavy winds we had last weekend, I hope and pray that he decided to stay ashore and will be found at a friends house. Then sadly from what I've been reading, that most likely won't be the case since his vehicle was also located at the beach. Either way my thoughts go out to his family and friends, Gods speed on his safe return.

[keastman]

doesn't sound good, they found his car where he left it to launch, and he plays in a church band on Sundays and always shows up. That's what got people looking for him when he didn't show on Sunday AM. I can't imagine the ocean being too friendly over the weekend. Weird that they wouldn't have found the kayak by now if it was in the ocean, you'd think it was on shore somewhere by now.

[Nakamoto2]

Sounded like he rented the kayak also, I wonder why the place he rented didn't give him a heads up on the weather.

[Vonzipper]

I wonder if this was a sit inside kayak he rented. And if so if he experienced rough water and was swamped could the kayak sink? I have always used sit on tops and do not know much about sit inside kayaks.
My prayer is that someone will find him alive.

ACTUALLY THEY JUST POSTED A PICTURE OF THE KAYAK HE RENTED AND IT IS DEFINITELY A SIT ON TOP. IT LOOKED LIKE ONE SOME OF US USE.

[jrcg8tor]

Sounded like he rented the kayak also, I wonder why the place he rented didn't give him a heads up on the weather.

I think he rented it from UNF.

[CrabbyYak]

I think he rented it from UNF.

According to one of the news video reports out of the Jax area I saw on the net earlier today the kayak was rented from UNF. Same report said a life vest rented along with the kayak was found in the missing person's vehicle.

[Gatorbite]

A life vest (PFD) does a person little good, if they leave it in the car and if that is what this young man did and he in fact did head offshore, then the outcome of this story is likely to be very bad. Then speaking from experience, one of the first things he or anyone else planning a trip offshore should do is check the weather reports prior to heading out and if the conditions look favorable then let someone else know the time you are leaving and the time you can be expected to return. Surely had this young man checked the weather last Saturday, he would have seen the predictions for the high wind gusts and heavy surf conditions, which we ended up having and that wasn’t the kind of weather to be kayaking in, especially so offshore and without proper safety gear. Truth of the matter is, as most of us old timers already know, the ocean if a very unforgiving place and sometimes all it takes is one mistake for things to head south quickly, which appears to have been what this young man may have learned the hard way. Then I still haven’t lost all hope of his rescue and safe return but with the passing of every hour, it means that the search is likely to move from rescue to recovery.

[internetpilot]

The CG has suspended the search:

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/news/ ... s-w/njxr9/