Virginia Couple Goes Missing While Sailing to Portugal: US Coast Guard
"It’s a lot of detective work," Coast Guard Chief Brian Gainey said, "but it’s all in service to finding these two individuals and bringing them home to their families."
The United States Coast Guard is looking for a missing couple after they failed to return from a sailing trip to Azores, Portugal.
According to a statement by the Coast Guard, Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones, two 65-year-old residents of Virginia Beach, departed from Hampton, Virginia, on June 8 with the intention of sailing to the Azores.
The release stated that the couple told their daughter that they were encountering bad weather on June 13 about 460 miles east of the Virginia Coast and had to head back because of the damages to the boat.
The Coast Guard said they haven't been heard from since.
On June 17, Jones' daughter contacted the Coast Guard and expressed worry for the couple’s safety. She anticipated them to return by June 20 though there was no definite scheduled return date.
The Coast Guard said that two flights have been set out in search of the missing couple.
"We're tracking cell phone and radio pings as we work with our counterparts in Bermuda to accurately determine the most intelligent search area for our air crews," Coast Guard Chief Brian Gainey said in the statement.
The pair are not thought to be "in distress," Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Connie Terrell told The Washington Post.
Terrell told The Washington Post that the couple reported to Jones' daughter that the damage caused to the boat was a broken sail.
In their search for the pair, the Coast Guard reported that the searchers made an urgent marine radio broadcast asking boaters to report any evidence of the couple or their boat.
"We're not sure whether they were able to make repairs out at sea and continue on to the Azores or if they turned around and went farther north," Terrell told The Washington Post.
“In situations like this, where there are so many unknowns, our coordination efforts need to cast a wide and intentional net,” Gainey said in the Coast Guard’s statement.
"It’s a lot of detective work," he said, "but it’s all in service to finding these two individuals and bringing them home to their families."
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