KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, LouisianaCoast Guard Calls Off Search for Boy

Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Boy

April 23, 2003
Reported by Janelle MacDonald

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Andrew Kendrick says the search has been called off for a missing teenager. The search ended at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday.

All day Wednesday, a Coast Guard cutter and a helicopter searched the Gulf off the Cameron coast for a missing 13-year old boy. The boy's uncle and grandfather were killed in the boating accident, but two other children survived and were plucked out of the water.

The coast guard says 79-year old Earl Swain of Lake Charles went out fishing Tuesday with his 47-year old son Earl Junior from New York, Earl's two stepchildren, 11-year old Gabriel and eight-year old Nico Zarade, and 13-year old Drake Hoffpauir.

Workers on an off shore oil rig noticed the 16-foot boat tied to the rig with the five inside, but later saw the boat had capsized. The Coast Guard issued an alert and a boat in the area found two of the boys clinging to an ice chest and picked them up. Gabriel and Nico were treated at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital and we're told they were released Wednesday afternoon.

The bodies of Earl Senior and his son were pulled from the water, but 13-year old Drake is still missing.