- Search Called Off for Boater Thrown from Vessel
On Monday afternoon, St. Thomas Rescue called off the search for a boater who had been missing since Sunday am after being tossed from his vessel near Coki Point Beach.
Todman Davaughn, 51, of St. Thomas, was reportedly ejected from a 30-foot white motor boat at 8 a.m. Sunday after it crashed and spun out of control multiple times near Coki Point Beach and Thatch Cay, according to the coast guard.
On Monday afternoon, at the request of the Coast Guard, St. Thomas Rescue Public Information Officer Chris Watson informed Davaughn’s family, also from St. Thomas, that the search would be called off at 2 p.m.
St. Thomas Rescue was on the location within six minutes after one of its officers getting a call from a worried resident at 8 a.m. on Sunday, and quickly deployed a search and rescue drone, Watson said.
“This came into contact with a 30-foot Fountain motorboat being towed by a dinghy from the shoreline. The 30-foot Fountain watercraft was later identified as the one involved in the incident,” Watson stated. There was one passenger onboard, and no other watercraft was involved in the mishap, he said. According to the Coast Guard, a friend of Davaughn hauled the yacht back to land.
“A witness called 911 to report that the boat operator had been ejected. Additional resources, including the United States Coast Guard and our Community Asset Register, were subsequently dispatched to the area,” Watson explained.
Along with the drone, St. Thomas Rescue sent a boat and divers, while the Coast Guard sent a helicopter from Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico to undertake an airborne search, as well as a 33-foot “Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement” vessel.
The Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene and launched a self-locating datum marker buoy to obtain real-time information on the sea state and currents in the vicinity. According to the Coast Guard, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft was also launched, and the Cutter Joseph Tezanos began a nighttime search.
Strong currents and wind direction play a crucial role in the area, presenting a problem as the search area expanded from a small, narrow tunnel to an extensive ocean, according to Watson.
