Man swims after boat, disappears

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 18, 2000

The U.S. Coast Guard was searching the waters off Pasco County late Monday for a missing man and boat.

The man, who was not identified, was reported missing at 8:51 p.m. by a woman who had gone boating with him, said Petty Officer Tim Kearns.

Kearns, of the Sand Key station in Clearwater, said the man swam after the boat, which drifted from a sand bar north of Anclote Key.

The woman, her two children and the man's two children were stranded on Two Rooker Bar and called Pasco County emergency dispatchers to report that they had not seen him for two hours.

A dispatcher for the Port Richey Police Department, which helped with the search, said no one was available Monday night to comment on the missing man.

The Coast Guard sent a 21-foot boat to search the Gulf of Mexico.

A helicopter also was being dispatched to the area.

Kearns said he did not know the name of the woman who reported the man missing.

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