Search Called Off for Missing Boater

A search for one of two fishermen who tumbled overboard near Dana Point Harbor was suspended tonight.

Tan Hoang Vu, 43, of Riverside, fell off the 18-foot Boston Whaler with Thuan Hieu Dang, 39, of Garden Grove, two miles off Dana Point around 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Dang was rescued early Tuesday afternoon after spending three hours treating water. Vu has not been found. He was not wearing a life jacket.

The search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was called off at 8:11 p.m. after a 57-hour air and sea search covering an area of 618 square miles, SondaKay Kneen of the Coast Guard said.

“It is always a difficult decision to suspend an active search, however, Coast Guard crews along with the members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department saturated the area by searching more than 600 square miles for the missing boater,” said Capt. Jennifer Williams, commanding officer, Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach.

Dang told his rescuers Tuesday they got there just in time because he had been “about to give up,” sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said. He initially declined treatment, but then fell ill and was taken to Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach, where he was treated and later released, the Hallock said.

Sheriff’s harbor patrol deputies received word about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday that an 18- to 20-foot powerboat was circling about two miles off the coast of Dana Point.

When the deputies arrived, they saw the boat was empty and began searching for survivors with help from lifeguards and the Coast Guard, Hallock said.

The men fell overboard about 9 a.m. due to a mechanical failure that caused the vessel to lurch and dump them into the ocean, Hallock said. Dang was rescued about 12:10 p.m.

The search for Vu, which was suspended about 8 p.m. Tuesday due to darkness, resumed at 7 this morning.

Sheriff’s officials issued a description of Vu in case he made it to shore and someone sees him. He is 6 feet tall, weighs about 250 pounds and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, Hallock said.

City News Service