UPDATE: Coast Guard Suspends Search For Missing Paddle Boarder

ATLANTIC BEACH, NY - The Coast Guard announced that they have suspended their search for a paddle boarder who went missing off Atlantic Beach on Sunday evening.

At 6:15 p.m. on Sunday the Coast Guard was notified of a missing person in the water, who was identified as 41-year-old Gary Turkel.

A family member called local authorities and stated he had gone out on a paddle board near the coast of Atlantic Beach and had not returned.

A lifeguard on the beach reported that he had last seen Turkel at 3:30 p.m. on the paddle board without a life jacket.

The Coast Guard suspended the search on Tuesday.  During the 70-hour search effort, crews completed 25 search patterns and covered 3,141 nautical miles.

“We treat every search effort as if we were searching for one of our own family members,” Captain Edward Cubanski, III, commander Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound said in a press release. “I would like to send my deepest sympathy and heartfelt thoughts out to the family and friends of Mr. Turkel during this tragic time.”