4 Missing Divers Found Floating Less Than 50 Miles from Cape Fear, N.C., Coast Guard Says

The men were diving from a pleasure craft named Big Bill’s around noon on Sunday when they disappeared, according to apress releasefrom the United States Coast Guard.

The group was approximately 50 miles south of Cape Fear, N.C., and 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C., at the time, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard sectors Charleston and North Carolina worked together to coordinate and launch “a multi-asset search and rescue effort” for the missing men.

Cape Fear.Getty

Getty

A Coast Guard C-130 from Air Station Elizabeth City located the missing divers around 12:45 a.m. local time Monday, US Coast Guard 5th District spokesperson Jonathan Lally toldCNN.

The victims were found 46 miles southeast of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, according to theUSCG Mid-Atlantic.

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USCG Mid-Atlantic/Twitter

Crews dropped a life raft into the water after spotting a strobe light flashing an SOS signal below, Lally told CNN andNPR.

All four men, who were uninjured, were transported to the Coast Guard Station Oak Island around 6:10 a.m. local time, he added. They have since reunited with loved ones.

Scene after Coast Guard rescues four men nearly 50 miles from N.C. coast.USCG Mid-Atlantic/Twitter

The area off the Carolinas’ coasts is known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” earning its nickname from the hundreds of shipwrecks that have occurred there over the years, according to theAssociated Press.

It is unclear how the divers went missing, but Lally said authorities are looking into the matter, according to NPR.

“The big thing is the fact that we were able to bring them back home safely and reunite them with their friends and family,” he added.

source: people.com