Coast Guard suspends search for missing Fort Pierce boater Brian Ronshausen
On the morning of January 9, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office headquartered in Fort Pierce, Florida, reported that a concerned boater contacted 911 after locating an unoccupied 20-foot Carolina Skiff floating in the channel near Riverside Marina, not too far from the Fort Pierce Inlet. The Sheriff’s Office and local Coast Guard responded to the scene where they found that the keys were in the ignition, and the owner’s personal effects, including his cell phone, were found in the boat. But the owner of the boat was nowhere to be seen.
The missing owner of that Skiff has been identified as 50-year-old Brian Ronshausen. Law enforcement officials said that Brian was last seen launching his Skiff from the Stan Blum boat ramp on January 8 around 11 p.m. At this point, all we really know about what happened to Ronshausen is that his unoccupied boat was found floating north of the North Beach Bridge early the next morning, on January 9.
A long-time boating friend told WPBF 25 that Ronshausen typically preferred to do his fishing at night. Around 3 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), searchers found fishing waders and a jacket near Spoil Island that belonged to the missing boater.
All day yesterday, the U.S Coast Guard along with law enforcement air units and volunteer boaters were searching the area for the missing man. But just a few hours ago, the Coast Guard announced that they were suspending their search for the missing boater, “pending any new information that may arise.”
If you have any information about the missing boater, please call the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami at (305) 535-4472.
(Source and Brian Ronshausen photo: St. Lucie County Sheriff’s, Office)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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