BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The Coast Guard is calling the search for three crew members aboard a boat that left from Brunswick, Georgia last week and didn't return 'complicated,' but says there are many reasons to remain hopeful.
The Coast Guard said Dalton Conway, Caleb Wilkinson and Tyler Barlow are the three crew members on board the 31-foot boat named the 'Carol Ann'.
First Coast News learned a Good Samaritan reported a sighting of the boat and crew around 4 a.m. Thursday, but that was four days ago, and the crew has yet to be located.
The Coast Guard says it has searched about 20,000 square nautical miles since Friday and is moving more north of Brunswick towards the Carolinas. There hasn't been any conversation about turning the search into a recovery mission, which the Coast Guard says is a good sign, but it has the crew's family members worried.
"We're all hoping they're just drifting off and trying to figure out what to do. We have no idea what's going on. Honestly, we're just hoping that they come home," Caleb Wilkinson's brother, Cameron Wilkinson said.
He added that the trip was his brother's first time deep-sea fishing.
"Just from me and him growing up, we never really had any experience on boats and going fishing and stuff like that. We always fished in ponds and stuff, but never anything on a boat," Cameron Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson says recently Caleb decided he wanted a more exciting career and took a job with the boat's captain Dalton Conway.
"Caleb's always been very cautious about everything he's done, and if he wasn't comfortable with Dalton and going out there, then he wouldn't have done it in the first place," Cameron Wilkinson said.
The three men left last Saturday from the docks near Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick, and planned to go about 80 miles offshore to a popular fishing spot called the Triple Ledge.
Lieutenant Commander Jason Erickson of Coast Guard Sector Charleston says based on that fishing spot, it's possible they drifted into the Gulf Stream which could have pushed them northeast at a faster rate, but added the Coast Guard is investigating multiple scenarios.
"If they were there and came into some trouble, became disabled, or something happened there, the drift would eventually take them into the Gulf Stream which would continue to the northeast at a faster rate," Coast Guard Sector Charleston Lieutenant Commander Jason Erickson said.
Erickson says the boat was equipped with life vests, a satellite, and distress beacons needed to stay in communication in case of an emergency.
"We know that the boat had an electronic beacon onboard, which we call an EPIRB, and we know that beacon has not activated. It is supposed to self-activate once it gets submerged in the water, and then it should release and give a position and indicate that there is some kind of distress. We have not received any beacons that have gone off. That's a reason to be hopeful," Erickson said.
Cameron Wilkinson says sometimes Conway pushes a fishing trip out an extra day but says it is unusual nobody has heard from any of the men and none of the equipment has emitted a distress signal.
"He (Dalton) has always been safe and communicated every single day with people. When he was out there (on the water) he would communicate with somebody letting them know what he was doing. We feel like if there was something wrong, then obviously Dalton knows what to do. He's been doing it for a long time," Cameron Wilkinson said.
The Coast Guard said 16 planes and U.S. Coast Guard Stations from as far as Miami and North Carolina are helping with the search.
If you have spotted the boat or the three men on board, you are urged to contact the Coast Guard at 843-740-7050.