Coast Guard ends search for missing R.I. students
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By CHELSEA PHUA The Associated Press - Published: March 15, 2006
NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — The Coast Guard called off its search Tuesday evening for three University of Rhode Island students who disappeared after taking a row boat out on Narragansett Bay.
The halt came after two days of efforts by federal, state and local officials to find Daniel Donahue, 20, Geoffrey Wilkes, 18, and Fandia Shloul, 21.
The students went missing early Monday, after taking an aluminum row boat onto the water following a small off-campus party at a waterfront neighborhood just south of campus. The school is closed for spring break.
Friends of the missing students had discouraged them from launching the boat, authorities said.
Officials did not declare the students dead, but they were openly pessimistic about the students' chances of survival if they never left the water.
"What we're trying to do is recover victims so to give the families some closure. But even that can be challenging," said Coast Guard commander Peter Martin.
Rescuers searching the bay Monday found a partially submerged aluminum row boat more than 1,000 yards off shore along with an oar, a ball cap and a sandal in the 40-degree water. The students were not believed to be wearing life jackets.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management planned on Wednesday to lead a recovery effort for the bodies, with support from the state and local police and the Coast Guard, said Steve Hall, chief of the DEM's enforcement division.
"This has been a very demanding time for everybody involved, whether it's the people on boats attempting to do a rescue or the family members whom I'm sure are totally in shock and don't want to believe this has happened to their loved ones," Hall said.
Boat crews will continue to sweep the bay at least twice a day looking for the students, Hall said. Authorities in Jamestown, an island just east of Narragansett, will periodically search their shores.
Emily Elderkin, 22, stood by the beach near the Bonnet Shores home where the three students were last spotted alive. She was comforted by a dozen friends.
"When I think of them, I just think of them smiling. I miss that so much. I really wish I could see them again," she said.
More than 175 people had participated in the rescue attempt by late Tuesday afternoon using seven boats and three helicopters. Martin called it the largest search conducted in Rhode Island waters in at least 15 years.
"The university is heartened by the outstanding response from the Coast Guard, and all state and local public safety agencies," said URI Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Dougan. "The families and students affected by this terrible situation have our full support and sympathies."
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