One of four boaters who went missing off the Florida coast Saturday has been found, according to the Coast Guard. Three others, including two NFL players, are still missing.
An overturned vessel was discovered Monday afternoon with former University of South Florida football player Nick Schuyler clinging to it, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer James Harless.
Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and NFL free agent Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions for the past three seasons, have not returned from a fishing trip Saturday in water off Clearwater, family members and colleagues said Sunday.
A wave flipped the boat over during a storm Saturday evening and he and his friends held onto the boat's hull, Schuyler told authorities, Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Simpson told CNN.
Video shot by CNN affiliates showed Schuyler being removed from a Coast Guard helicopter Monday afternoon. He appeared to be talking.
The search, which began early Sunday, now involves three Coast Guardcutters, three C-130 Hercules airplanes and three helicopters combing 16,000 square miles of open water in the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles west of Clearwater Pass, according to a Coast Guard statement. The search area Sunday was just 750 square miles.
The Air Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing, based at Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base, sent a C-130 airplane and a HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter to join the effort Monday, the Air Force said.
Rough seas and high winds that hampered the search Sunday continued Monday. The Coast Guard reported winds of 15 to 20 knots and waves up to 9 feet in the search area Monday.
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