Coast Guard Searches for Missing Boater

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching Friday for a missing man who didn't return home from a fishing trip Thursday night.

Crews were searching in the area of Jug Creek for Jim Winkler 62, from North Port, Fla., according to a Coast Guard release.

Winkler's wife contacted law enforcement after midnight Friday morning, saying that her husband had left the L. Jo Bean Marina in the Myakka River at around 2 p.m. on a 20-foot flats boat and had not returned.

Authorities have confirmed Winkler's last cell phone ping was at 7:01 p.m. just south of Cape Haze, Florida.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter air crew from Air Station Clearwater and a 29-foot Response Boat Small II from Station Fort Myers Beach have been launched in the search.

At 4:46 a.m. the Jayhawk helicopter crew found the flats boat near Jug Creek, but Winkler was not aboard.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Charlotte Harbor Marine Unit, and Lee County Sheriff's Office are aiding in the search, according to the Coast Guard.