Video by: Harry B. Scheeler, Jr.

CAPE MAY — At 5:02 p.m, on Thursday, Nov 12, all Coast Guard assets were returned to port after searching for nineteen hours. According to Petty Officer 3rd Class Crystalynn A. Kneen, next of kin notifications are being made.

The missing are: Kenneth Rose Sr., 75, Kenneth Rose Jr., 49, and Larry Forrest, 55.

The Coast Guard received an electronic position indicating radio beacon transmission at 7:35 p.m., on Wednesday, Nov 11, from the fishing boat Sea Tractor.

Rescue helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, arrived on scene and found an empty life raft with a strobe light attached. According to one of the pilots Lt. Joan Snaith there were "no signs of life".

Coast Guard search efforts were coordinated by crewmembers at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia. Rescue helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, a C-130 air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and a rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., all responded to the scene.

Crews from Coast Guard Cutter Block Island, a 110-foot Island Class patrol boat homeported in Atlantic Beach, N.C., and Coast Guard Cutter Mako, a 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Cape May, also assisted in the search but had to return to home port due to deteriorating weather conditions. The weather conditions had been reported as 15 to 20-foot seas, 40 to 60 knot winds with some higher gusts and visibility as low as one half mile.

Coast Guard crews received assistance from the crew of the fishing boat Capt. Jeff who discovered the debris field.

The Coast Guard is in contact with family members and has been providing them with information details regarding the search and rescue effort throughout the case.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the missing fishermen during this difficult time. We have conducted an exhaustive search in very difficult conditions. Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful," said Capt. Meredith Austin, the Captain of the Port at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia.

Read related story here: Captain Recalls Crew of the Sea Tractor

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