US Coast Guard, Mexican officials search for 3 American sailors last spoken with 11 days earlier

By Melissa Alonso|CNN
The US Coast Guard is helping Mexican navy teams in the look for 3 American sailors, last spoken with on April 4 near Mazatlán, Mexico, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Kerry O'Brien, Frank O'Brien and William Gross are all "skilled sailors," according to a joint declaration from their families. They were aboard the Ocean Bound, a 44-foot La Fitte cruising vessel, when they left the Mexican city of Mazatlán en path to San Diego, the Coast Guard stated.

" The sailors planned to drop in Cabo San Lucas on April 6 for provisions and to report in before continuing to San Diego," the news release said.

" However, there was no record of them getting here in Cabo San Lucas or a report in of their area."

Rescue organizers have contacted marinas throughout Baja, Mexico, however there have been no sightings of the vessel, the press release said.

" Urgent marine information broadcasts have been issued over VHF radio requesting all mariners to keep a lookout for the missing persons and vessel," the Coast Guard said.

William Gross, seen here, is one of 3 American sailors last heard from on April 4 near Mazatlán, Mexico.
Cmdr. Greg Higgins, search mission coordinator for the US Coast Guard, said the weather was less than perfect when the trio set out.

" When they started their trip we understand that the conditions were not ideal for that kind of trip, though certainly, there were cruising vessels out there throughout that time. Winds possibly over 30 seas and knots 15 to 20, maybe more, feet at the time of their trip," Higgins informed CNN's Fredricka Whitfield Saturday.

" It's a long journey for even in good conditions, from Mazatlán to Cabo. That's 2 days, and certainly on to San Diego, which was their eventual destination. And ever since it has improved marginally," he added.

Higgins stated he intends to collect info from witnesses who may have seen the sailors who went missing out on.

" The Mexican Navy, now based in La Paz, Mexico, has the lead for search efforts, so there are various Mexican naval search and rescue assets that are working the case," Higgins said. "For our portion, to support the outstanding collaboration that we have with Mexico and the Mexican Navy.

" We've performed search preparation, so we're utilizing computer system search tools to recognize where the vessel may be based on ecological conditions, winds, and currents, where it may have wandered if they became distressed, in addition to Coast Guard airplane, browsing with the permission of Mexico, and Coast Guard cutters browsing as well," Higgins stated.

Missing Americans are 'experienced sailors,' families say

The three Americans "are all experienced sailors," according to a joint declaration from their families.

" Bill has over 50 years of cruising experience and is an extremely gifted seaside cruiser. Kerry and Frank have 20 years cruising together and both hold captains licenses with the United States Coast Guard," according to the declaration.

Ocean Bound, referred to as "a sturdy older vessel," left Mazatlán on April 4 at about 9:30 a.m. regional time. It headed "throughout the Sea of Cortez, a short stop had been planned in Cabo San Lucas and then to sail up the coast of Baja to San Diego," the statement said. When they didn't sign in by the weekend, the Coast Guard was alerted.

" Cell phone pings on 4/4/2023 show off the coast of Mazatlan as calls to marinas in Cabo San Lucas," according to the households.

Their families presume they were trying to make slip reservations at the marina. Because all the calls made were so brief, it's believed the attempts to reach someone were unsuccessful, stated the statement. That calls are the last recognized contact with the Ocean Bound.

According to household, the Coast Guard "has an existing 'travel forecast' if Ocean Bound merely lost radio contact and continued her journey to San Diego at just North or South of Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortugas) on the Baja Peninsula and is concentrated on browsing there, in addition to long airplane sweeps along the Baja Peninsula.".

The parameters are reassessed each night to redefine the search the next day, according to the statement.

" The cruising community has numerous extra vessels searching for our family members," said the joint statement.

The families thanked the Mexican Navy and United States Coast Guard for their search and rescue operations.

" They have actually communicated all of their efforts with compassion and empathy more than once a day," said the declaration.