Missing Pair Believed To Have Been In Boat Found On North Fork

EAST MARION, NY — The Coast Guard has suspended its desperate search for a young man and woman in the Long Island Sound after a 14-foot white and blue sailboat with no mast was found on Truman Beach in East Marion — and now, officials say the pair was likely to have been on that sailboat and not a kayak, as initially believed.

According to The Day, Spencer Mugford, 2o, and Sophia McKenna, 21, were last on a boat belonging to the University of Connecticut - Avery Point. Officials originally thought the pair had gone missing on a paddleboard, the post said.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley told Patch, that the blue-and-white sailboat, which was found without a mast on Truman Beach in East Marion, was "undamaged."

When asked if anyone had walked up from Truman Beach, he responded, "Not that we are aware of."

Flatley said the boat was turned over to the USCG and, when asked if local authorities would continue to search, even though the USCG search had been suspended, added that local authorities usually all follow the USCG's lead.

“Suspending a search for missing or overdue boaters is never an easy decision to make after an extensive search,” said Cmdr. Andrew Ely, chief of response, Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. “We search for every person as if we are searching for one of our own. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Spencer Mugford and Sophia McKenna.”

Sophia's mom Michelle McKenna said on social media that her daughter took a Snapchat of Spencer at 2 a.m. on a paddleboard; from 2:05 a.m. until 2:09 a.m., she said, she received seven missed phone calls from Spencer’s cell phone. But she was asleep and did not get the calls.

She added that Spencer and her daughter are just friends.

McKenna, desperate to find her beautiful daughter, has been imploring the public and those with vessels for help to continue searching the water.

Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound command center said it received notification at approximately 6:30 p.m., Sunday from the City of Groton Police Department that Mugford and McKenna were missing.

When Mugford failed to make an event Sunday morning, his parents notified the City of Groton Police Department to report him missing. Mugford and McKenna’s departure point was unknown and there was no response from their cell phones.

The Coast Guard, along with state and local agencies searched for a total of 71 hours, and saturated a 2025 square-mile area to locate the two missing people in the water, the agency said.

The Coast Guard said it has suspended its search for Mugford and McKenna pending the development of new information.

The couple is believed to have boarded the vessel at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus in Groton, according to a report in The Day. McKenna's car was found on the campus.

Mugford was last seen wearing a blue tank top and salmon colored shorts. It was not clear what McKenna was last seen wearing.

Michelle McKenna discussed the Snapchat with NBC Connecticut.

"That's why I'm hoping anyone out there can search for them because I'm praying they're still alive," Michelle McKenna has said, according to NBC Connecticut. "Miracles do happen, maybe somebody's already found them. I don't know. But we got to keep faith."

Reporting by Katie Kausch
Image: David Gifford