Coast Guard Seeking Public’s Help in Locating Missing Boat Captain

Coast Guard Seeking Public’s Help in Locating Missing Boat Captain

The US Coast Guard released the photo above as part of a March 8 press release asking for help from the public in gathering information regarding the 49-year-old Venezuelan national whose body was discovered amongst wreckage about 22 miles east of the entrance to the St. Johns River in Florida last month. The body of Guillermo Gonzalez Losada was the only one recovered, but the Coast Guard confirmed that two other Venezuelan men believed to be onboard remain missing as well as the American boat captain seen in the picture above. The image was taken by a surveillance camera on February 22 at Charleston City Marina in South Carolina.

According to the Coast Guard, friends and family of the Venezuelan men reported that Chong Kang Lum Valles had recently purchased a vessel in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Lum hired the American captain, whose first name they said is Larry, to help transport the boat, but friends and family told the Coast Guard that they did not know the captain’s last name or where he was from. It is believed that the American captain and the three Venezuelan men were traveling along the southeastern US coast to Aruba in a vessel named ON THE WEIGH.

The Coast Guard said that crews searched roughly 2,875 square nautical miles surrounding the wreckage for 56 hours looking for survivors after recovering Losada’s body. Coast Guard crews also searched an area 85 miles off of Brunswick, Georgia, when the vessel’s Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) activated. Anyone with any information about the American boat captain or who may have been contacted to accompany the Venezuelan men is being urged to contact Coast Guard investigators at (904) 564-7511.

Latti & Anderson LLP represents injured individuals and the families of workers killed in maritime accidents, and you can find additional information about wrongful death actions by visiting our website. If your spouse, child or other loved one was killed in an accident at sea, you may be entitled to compensation under various laws like the Death on the High Seas Act (DOSHA) which provide certain wrongful death damages. Contact our firm at (800) 392-6072 to schedule an initial free consultation or fill out the form on this page to have our Boston maritime attorneys review your case.

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