Coast Guard Seeks Man Lost at Sea

Two helicopters, two Coast Guard cutters and a jet continued to search off the coast of Mexico late Thursday for a Mexican man who was last seen clinging to a gas can at 11 p.m. Wednesday.

The Ensenada man, identified only as Jesus, had gone fishing with his friend, Javier Talamantes, Wednesday morning, but their skiff sank about 9 a.m., Coast Guard officer Eric Mumma said.

Talamantes was wearing a life jacket, and Jesus was clinging to a gas can. The men became separated about 11 p.m. Wednesday, and at 1:45 a.m. Thursday Talamantes was pulled from the water by the crew of the 85-foot fishing vessel “Spirit of Adventure,” Mumma said.

Crew members heard Talamantes’ cry for help and rescued him about 20 miles west of Punta Santos Tomas, Mexico.

A Coast Guard helicopter began searching the water 80 miles south of San Diego for the missing man at 2:20 a.m. Thursday. Another helicopter, a Coast Guard Falcon jet, the Coast Guard cutter Venturous and the cutter Point Hobart also joined the search, which was expected to cover 100 square miles by daybreak today, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

Coast Guard officials were expected to decide during the night whether or not to continue the search until daybreak.