Coast Guard suspends search for woman 30 miles west of Cay Sal, Bahamas

News Release

May 18, 2017 U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Southeast Contact: 7th District Public Affairs Office: (305) 415-6683 After Hours: (786) 367-7649

Coast Guard suspends search for woman 30 miles west of Cay Sal, Bahamas

 

MIAMI — The Coast Guard suspended their search at 8:45 p.m. Thursday for a missing woman 30 miles west of Cay Sal, Bahamas.

Missing is Isabella Hellman, 41, of Delray Beach.

"Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Ms. Hellman in this difficult time," said Capt. Aldante Vinciguerra, chief of response for the Coast Guard Seventh District. "Suspending a search is never an easy call to make and was made with deep consideration in this tragic case."

Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater C-130 Hercules airplane crews; Air Station Clearwater MH-60 helicopter crews; Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crews; the Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore crew; the Coast Guard Cutter Charles David Jr. crew; and the Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo crew covered more than 6,680 square miles searching for Hellman.

Watch standers with the Coast Guard Seventh District Command Center received notification at approximately 1:30 a.m. Monday from an emergency position indicating radio beacon registered to the 37-foot catamaran Surf Into Summer. The owner of the Surf Into Summer, Lewis Bennett, notified rescuers that he was abandoning his vessel and didn't know where his wife, Hellman, was.

Response crews arrived on scene and rescued Bennett from a life raft at about 4:37 a.m. Monday and took him to Marathon with no reported injuries or medical concerns.

The cutters Kathleen Moore, Charles David, Jr. and Isaac Mayo are 154-foot fast response cutters homeported in Key West.

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-USCG-