The U.S. Coast Guard Heartland announced on Sunday morning via X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook that it had suspended the active search for a boater missing near Aransas Pass following a crash early Saturday morning. The victims have been identified as 50-year-old Colin Ocker and 25-year-old Jared Dale Hunt.
Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watch standers received a distress call around 5:28 a.m. on Saturday via VHF-FM channel 16, reporting a collision between a recreational vehicle and a commercial tanker. This call was made by a good Samaritan, according to the news release.
In response, the Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched an MH-65 helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi along with a 29-foot Response Boat from Coast Guard Station Port Aransas. These units commenced a search operation, aiming to locate any survivors or additional victims of the crash.
Over a combined 44 hours, rescue teams from the Coast Guard and local partners conducted extensive searches by air and sea, covering more than 127 square miles.
Despite their efforts, only three individuals were found in the water. Tragically, one of these individuals was deceased, while the other two were promptly transferred to Emergency Medical Services for treatment.
The rescue operation involved multiple units, including Coast Guard Corpus Christi, Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, Coast Guard Station Port Aransas, Coast Guard Cutter Manta, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Aransas Pass Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Port of Corpus Christi Police Department.
The search was called off after extensive efforts yielded no further results. The cause of the collision is currently under investigation, and authorities are working to determine the factors that led to this tragic incident.
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