Coast Guard Suspends Search for Teen Missing in Potomac

UPDATE 12:45 p.m.: A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said this afternoon that there are dive teams in the water using sonar to try to find the missing teen. The dive teams are not with the Coast Guard.

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The Coast Guard has suspended its search Thursday for a missing teenager near Mount Vernon, according to spokesman David Marin.

The boy, 16, is reportedly a student at Mount Vernon High School, according to WTOP.

The Coast Guard said they received a call Wednesday night, at approximately 8:30 p.m., from a Fairfax County Fire department boat crew member, stating they lost sight of a teenager while responding to a call of the swimmer having trouble.

A crew aboard a 29-foot Response Boat from Coast Guard Station Washington launched at 8:35 p.m. Wednesday to assist with the search, the Coast Guard noted in a news release.

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, New Jersey, arrived on scene and conducted a search Thursday morning.

The Coast Guard searched a 65-square nautical mile area for the missing teen, they said.

“After more than 38 hours of cumulative search efforts by the Coast Guard and our partner agencies, the Coast Guard made the difficult decision to suspend the search,” said Lt. Erin Slycord, command center chief at Coast Guard Sector Baltimore. “This decision is never an easy one, and our thoughts are with the families of the missing teen.”

A spokesman for the Fairfax County Police Department was not immediately available to give an update just after 12 noon Thursday, on how police are proceeding with the case. They were still searching for the teen Thursday morning.

Assisting in the search were crews from:

• Fairfax County Police department

• Washington D.C. Metro

• U.S. Park Police

• Maryland Natural Resources Police