Coast Guard Scours Channel for Body
The search for a 45-year-old Port Hueneme man who either fell or jumped 60 feet from an oil platform off Ventura’s coast was suspended Monday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
Allen Hemphill, described by Coast Guard officials as a food service worker on Platform Grace, was seen in the choppy, 300-foot-deep waters just after 8 p.m. Sunday, authorities said. The platform sits in the Santa Barbara Channel about 10 miles off the coast.
“He landed flat on his side,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Gary Butts said. “He hit pretty hard.”
Butts said investigators are almost certain Hemphill took a suicidal leap, but the agency’s investigation continued through Monday afternoon.
Coast Guard crews scoured the waters for five hours Sunday night and resumed the search for another 90 minutes after sunrise on Monday. The search was suspended at 8:30 a.m.
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