Local News

3 missing boaters found unresponsive, search for 1 continues after boat from New Hampshire is found near Cape Ann

The boaters took off from Hampton Wednesday morning, and the Coast Guard found their boat near Cape Ann Thursday afternoon.

The boaters took off in the 17-foot white boat pictured. U.S. Coast Guard

By Susannah Sudborough

1 minute to read

The U.S. Coast Guard has located three missing boaters that took off from New Hampshire Wednesday morning and did not return home when expected.

The three were found unresponsive, and the Coast Guard is continuing to search for the fourth missing person, the Coast Guard said just before 6 p.m. Thursday.

The Coast Guard found what appeared to be the group’s boat seven miles northeast of Cape Ann around 1:20 p.m. Thursday, it said in a tweet. The boat was overturned, but there was initially no sign of the boaters.

The Coast Guard said hours later its boat crews recovered the three unresponsive people after searching in the vicinity of the overturned boat.

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The group includes a man named Michael Sai and three others, the Coast Guard said. They were traveling in a 17-foot boat from Hampton to fishing grounds near Jeffreys Ledge, which is about 50 miles from the shore.

It is unclear whether Sai was among the boaters who have been located.

A spokesperson for the the Coast Guard said Thursday that it did not receive a distress signal from the group. Instead, a family member reported the group missing around 11 p.m. Wednesday after they didn’t return home when expected.

Coast Guard Lt. Brandon Newman told The Portsmouth Herald that last contact with the boat was made Wednesday afternoon through a ping from one of the passenger’s iPhones.

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The Coast Guard said it is using a helicopter, airplane, and two boats in the search.

Anyone with information that might help the search is asked to contact the Coast Guard at (207) 767-0303.

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