U.S. Coast Guard Calls Off Search For Missing Men: Will Bleakley, Marquis Cooper, and Corey Smith Presumed Dead

The U.S. Coast Guard is calling off the search for three missing men, including two NFL football players, Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper, and former USF player, William Bleakley, after their boat overturned in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday evening.

Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Florida football player, was found Monday afternoon clinging to the overturned boat that he and the three others took out Saturday to go fishing.

Schuyler was found about 35 miles off shore. He was taken to Tampa General Hospital by the Coast Guard helicopter in serious condition. On Tuesday he has been upgraded to fair condition.

Coast Guard officials continued searching by air and in the water Tuesday, concentrating the search to an area of about 4,000 square miles. But the Coast Guard will end the search at 6:30 p.m.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close says survivor Nick Schuyler said that the boat capsized as they were pulling up the anchor. The men swam under the boat and were able to recover their life vests.

The four men managed to stay together for quite some time. But later became separated.

The Coast Guard was first alerted to the missing boaters after the group did not return as expected Saturday.

Marquis Cooper, 26, owns the boat, and was said to be an experienced boater. Cooper and Smith, 29, have been on fishing trips before.

Cooper played for the Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005. Smith was with the Bucs from 2002 to 2004.

Cooper’s wife, Rebekah Cooper, said fishing is his first love, and she got concerned when he did not return as scheduled Saturday.

“Before he left [Saturday], I asked him if he was going to be really late. He said no, because he knew that there was some weather coming through last night, so I didn’t expect, and I don’t think he expected anything to go wrong,” Rebekah Cooper said.

Authorities said the weather was relatively good Saturday, but picked up early Sunday morning, which could have been dangerous for the 21-foot single-engine boat.

On Sunday, a Pave Hawk helicopter took off from the base at 5 p.m. to join the Coast Guard in the search for the men on the 21-foot vessel.

They used night vision goggles to scan the rough seas with 20 foot swells about 30 miles off the coast until returning without success near midnight.

“There were whitecaps out there that were probably bigger and longer than the vessel itself, and it was difficult. Sometimes you’d look at a whitecap, and it looked like a boat, which is white, (and) then realize that’s just foam off the wave,” said Maj. Mel Bonifacio, a pilot from the 920th Rescue Wing.

Prospects for survival were beginning to look more grim throughout the day, with the father of one of the men saying the Coast Guard told him privately that officials were losing hope because of the time that has passed and the possibility the men would be suffering from hypothermia. Coast Guard officials said publicly that they were still hopeful.

Close said searchers found a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat.

“Today’s news is a sobering reminder about how truly precious and fragile life can be. We will continue to pray for a miracle, though we fully understand and respect the decision of the Coast Guard,” the Detroit Lions said in a statement Tuesday. “While we still have that hope, we have begun to cope with the grim reality of this sad and tragic situation.”

Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of the missing men William Bleakley, Marquis Cooper, and Corey Smith. And thanks to the United States Coast Guard for their hard work in searching for the missing men.

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Posted by: Monya

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