Coast Guard Searches for Missing Boater
LONG BEACH — A Coast Guard jet and two helicopters searched the ocean on Monday between the Orange County coastline and Santa Catalina Island for a boater reported overdue after setting out from Newport Beach for a one-hour cruise.
Robert Axelrod, 43, of Newhall was reported missing by his wife Saturday evening, said Petty Officer Jamie Devitt, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard.
Axelrod’s wife, whose name was not released, told authorities that her husband left home about 1:30 p.m. Saturday to check on the Amiee, his 30-foot, motor-driven boat. On Sunday afternoon, Coast Guard searchers found an overturned dinghy from the Amiee 17 miles south of San Pedro.
Nothing further was found during Monday’s daylong search.
On Saturday, Axelrod told people at a private boat launch that he was taking a one-hour trip and would return to Newport Beach, Devitt said.
The boat, with a white hull and gray trim, is based in a slip along East Balboa Boulevard, said Shirlee Amstater, who lives near the slip and knows Axelrod.
Amstater said she last saw Axelrod on Saturday afternoon when he was heading out on his cruise. She said Axelrod is a novice sailor and had sailed alone only once before.
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