Clearwater, FL – A two-day search for a missing swimmer ended in tragedy Monday when a boat crew located the body of a 20-year-old man off Anna Maria Island, officials said.
The Coast Guard confirmed that a Longboat Key Police Department vessel recovered the body of Abhigyan Patel about one mile west of the island. Patel had last been reported missing Sunday evening, prompting a large-scale search effort.
Crews from multiple agencies scoured the Gulf of Mexico by air and sea, covering approximately 172 square miles — an area about half the size of Dallas. Search conditions included steady 10-knot winds and one-foot seas.
Cmdr. Fredrick Pugh, search and rescue coordinator with Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, expressed condolences, saying crews “worked with determination around the clock with hopes of a different outcome.”
Responders from more than ten agencies assisted in the operation, including Coast Guard stations in Clearwater, Cortez, and St. Petersburg, as well as local police, fire, and sheriff’s departments from Manatee and Pinellas counties.