The Daily World

The Coast Guard suspended the search Monday evening for a 14-year-old boy reportedly swept offshore while swimming near Long Beach earlier that afternoon.

The teenager was reported to be missing by his friend, who confirmed he was wearing a red swimmers cap, gray T-shirt and black swim shorts, according to a Coast Guard statement.

The Coast Guard was notified at 2:06 p.m. Monday and a helicopter crew and motor lifeboat crew were on scene at 2:30 p.m. Multiple partner agencies and a rotation of Coast Guard crews participated in the coordinated search operations.

The Coast Guard saturated an area of approximately 52 square miles, completing eight searches over 18 hours. The search was suspended at 10:26 p.m Monday.

“Suspending search efforts is always an extremely difficult and heart-wrenching decision, especially when involving children,” said Capt. Nathan Coulter, 13th Coast Guard District chief of incident management. “This was a real tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the young man involved.”

Coulter thanked the large number of people and agencies who responded to the tragedy.

“A huge thanks to the many women and men who assisted in planning and carrying out this search effort, including among others, the Coast Guard, Pacific County, Washington Park Rangers, and good Samaritans,” he said. “As is often the case, these public servants answered the call instinctively and without delay to come to the aid of others.”