BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The search for three missing Brunswick boaters continues into its third week and their families say they are not giving up hope.
The families of Tyler Barlow, Dalton Conway and Caleb Wilkinson are leading a private search. The Coast Guard and volunteers have searched thousands of miles from Massachusetts to Florida with no sign of the boat or crewmembers on boaters so far.
Last week two privately owned planes with photographers on board went up north searching off the coast of Massachusetts but unfortunately safety concerns forced a pause on that search mission. Now the focus is further south from Virginia to South Carolina.
Tyler Barlow's dad, Chris Barlow, says more volunteers with planes, charter boat companies and drift analysis specialists have joined the search. The goal is to find any sign of the boat, the Carol Ann, life raft, or debris.
"There's some Eddy's which are just circular currents in several places along South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. We're actually having a plane flyover with a photographer Tuesday to give us data and analyze those areas," Chris Barlow said.
While volunteers are in the air and on the water helping with the search, Barlow says he and the other families are helping fundraise, monitor ocean currents, marine traffic maps, and posts on social media. Barlow says the community has been a huge help in the search.
The 'Carol Ann Buoy Spotters' Facebook page was created for anyone to post photos from buoy cameras along the East Coast that could give clues to the boaters whereabouts. The page has more than 800 members and has dozens of posts each hour of suspected objects seen in the water or in the camera's view.
"They're just not giving up, they're standing right there alongside of us," Tyler Barlow's mom, Kim Jones said.
Chris Barlow says photos from the Facebook page are sent to the Coast Guard to be analyzed, but so far after almost three weeks, there's been no sign of the men or the Carol Ann.
"I can look at it one way and say well, this is very positive because that means they're probably still on the boat. I can also see the negative side of that, nothing has been found. Are we looking in the wrong area? All the science and data points towards we're looking in the right area," Chris Barlow said. "Especially as a dad having an emotional attachment, that is my son out there. I'm always second guessing everything."
Now they are focused on narrowing the search area.
"They're young fit guys. If anybody can make it through this, it's definitely them," Chris Barlow said.
Barlow and Jones say there is still hope. "We still believe that they're out there, the other mothers as well, definitely still believe, family believe."
Barlow says volunteers will be helping search the shorelines for any clues. The 'Carol Ann Buoy Spotters' page can be found here.