This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
07/02/2013 12:00 AMThe Coast Guard suspended the active search for a 51-year-old man who went into the water while fishing off a boat near the entrance of the Connecticut River, Monday night.
Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector Long Island Sound, in New Haven, Conn., were contacted by the Old Saybrook Fire Department, at approximately 8 p.m., Sunday, reporting that a male fisherman, Yuri Kirvpichev, a native of West Springfield, Mass., had gone missing after he lost his fishing pole overboard and attempted to retrieve it. The man was last seen in the water by his two sons and a friend who were aboard the boat.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kirvpichev family,” said Lt. Jeff Janaro, public affairs officer for Sector Long Island Sound. “The decision to suspend a search is never easy. Coast Guard and local rescue crews saturated more than 140 square miles during the 30 hour search.”
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew from Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., rescue boat crews from Station New London, Conn., Cutter Ridley of Montauk, N.Y., along with members of the Old Saybrook, Essex, Clinton and Westbrook Fire Department, East Connecticut Police Department, and rescue and dive teams from local agencies, conducted multiple searches in the vicinity of the Connecticut River entrance.
Kirvpichev was reported as not wearing a life jacket when he entered the water.
“Wearing a lifejacket while operating on or near the water can save lives,” said Janaro. “Lifejackets helps in keeping the head above water, which aids in proper breathing and makes it easier for responders to locate persons in the water.”