CAPE HATTERAS, N.C., April 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard suspended the search for a sailor who went missing from a ship off the coast of North Carolina.
The sailor, who remains unidentified through official sources, was reported missing on Saturday while on the USS Carter Hall. The Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship was conducting routine training operations about 60 nautical miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Composite Training Unit Exercise.
Navy and Coast Guard helicopters and airplanes searched for about 72 hours and covered more than nearly 22,400 square nautical miles.
“It is with a deep sense of sadness that we suspend the search for our fellow shipmate,” Rear Adm. Bruce Lindsey, the commander of the Carrier Strike Group Four who led the search efforts, said in a statement Tuesday. “Our sincere condolences are with the sailor’s family, who have requested privacy following their tragic loss.”
The female third-class petty officer is presumed to have fallen off the dock landing ship. An investigation into the incident was launched.
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