PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — Crews are out in force off the St. Augustine coast as the search for two missing boaters out of Port Canaveral entered another day.
- Brian McCluney, Justin Walker have been missing since Friday
- McCluney's tackle bag found by volunteer
- PREVIOUS STORY: Massive Search Continues for Missing Port Canaveral Boaters
Jacksonville firefighter Brian McCluney and Justin Walker, a firefighter from Fairfax, Virginia, went out on a boat for a fishing trip Friday night at Port Canaveral and have not been seen since.
On Tuesday, Walker's wife, Natasha, boarded a small plane for a 10-hour flight to search for the boaters.
Natasha joined Joe Hurston of Air Mobile Ministries, following breadcrumbs of clues in the hope of finding the pilots.
“We are literally sitting on a table with a map and chart, piecing together about 30-40 bits and pieces of information to get clear direction as to where to point the nose of the plane,” said Hurston, who normally flies relief missions.
Among the breadcrumbs, a tackle bag found several miles off the coast of St. Augustine by a volunteerMonday. McCluney's family confirmed the bag belonged to him.
On the groundTuesday morning, a large number of volunteers showed up to aid Jacksonville Fire Rescue in a concentrated search of that area, 30 to 60 miles offshore.
The U.S. Coast Guard is also helping with the search, using planes and boats to cover an area from Charlotte, South Carolina down to Port Canaveral. Coast Guard crews searched through the night, and have covered about 46,800 square miles since they began their search, according to officials.
The McCluney and Walker families said the men were going out for a quick fishing trip Friday so the two firefighters could test a boat before trying to sell it.
The missing boat is a 23-foot Robalo center console, with a white hull with a black T top.
Meanwhile, the firefighters union in Jacksonville has set up link on its website to help raise money for the search.
Information from reporter Krystel Knowles contributed to this story.
