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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coast Guard rescued a 72-year-old man Monday who was reported overdue near South Padre Island, Texas.

Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi command center watchstanders received a call at 11:22 p.m. Sunday from a concerned spouse reporting her husband left their dock to fish at the entrance of the Arroyo Colorado near Green Island and did not return as scheduled.

Watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and diverted a Coast Guard Station South Padre Island 33-foot Special Purpose Craft–Law Enforcement boat crew to search. Watchstanders also sent an i911 notification to the overdue boater’s cell phone and issued an urgent marine information broadcast. 

At 2 a.m., the helicopter crew located the overdue boater on his vessel, which was aground near Green Island. The Dolphin crew hoisted the boater and transported him to the Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport in Los Fresnos, Texas, where his wife met him. 

The owner of the vessel will arrange for its salvage. 

“It’s essential to tell someone where you are going and when you intend to return prior to heading out on the water,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Josuah Chears-Stevens, command duty officer, Sector Corpus Christi. “In the event of an emergency, that information can greatly aid our search and rescue crews in locating you, as it did in this case.”

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-USCG-