PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Four divers that went missing off the coast of the Carolinas were found and rescued, the Coast Guard said Monday.
The group was around 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, North Carolina. They were identified as Ben Wiggins, 64, Luke Lodge, 26, Daniel Williams, 46 and Evan Williams, 16.
The Coast Guard announced Sunday it launched a search and rescue effort to find the missing men, who were reported diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill's, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
They went diving around noon and had apparently not resurfaced at the time of the release.
The Coast Guard searched 50 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina. The search took to air and water, including an aircraft and helicopter crew from Elizabeth City. The search effort continued into the night.
An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City notified watchstanders at 12:45 a.m. that they found an SOS-strobe light, located the four missing divers and launched a life raft.
The crew onboard the USS Porter helped out and rescued the divers from the raft since the U.S. Navy destroyer was nearby doing a training exercise.
A Coast Guard crew used a 47-foot motor lifeboat to get the divers back to land. They arrived around 6:10 a.m. and reunited with friends and family. No one was hurt.
“Any time the Coast Guard launches for a search and rescue case, it is always our hope and goal to be able to reunite those we are searching for with their friends and families,” Capt. Timothy List, commander of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina, wrote in a news release. “In this case that is exactly what took place, which is always a great feeling for our rescue crews.”
According to the Coast Guard, rescue crews involved included:
- An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
- An HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from the Elizabeth City air station.
- A 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from the Coast Guard Station in Oak Island, North Carolina.
- The Coast Guard cutter Sailfish, an 87-foot patrol boat from Portsmouth.
- The Coast Guard cutter Yellowfin, an 87-foot patrol boat from Charleston, South Carolina.
- USS Porter (DDG 78), a U.S. Navy Destroyer.