JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A father and two children are now safe and sound after a search by rescue crews in the St. Johns River Friday night.
The Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department tweeted the update that all three were found less than an hour after notifying the public that rescue crews from JFRD, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were searching for missing boaters.
In a news briefing Friday night, JFRD said they received a call of boaters in distress and arrived at Journeys End Lane to find a boat anchored with poles. When they got onto the boat, they found kids' shoes, a cellphone and fishing poles in the water.
That's when rescue crews expanded the search to include FWC, JSO, the Navy and St. Johns County rescue crews.
The father stopped the boat and threw anchor while the kids were swimming, JFRD said. A 4-year-old child was wearing a life jacket, but a 7-year-old child was not, according to JFRD. The law requires those 6 and under to wear a life jacket, according to JFRD.
The current started separating the family, and the 7-year-old was able to swim to shore, but the father and the 4-year-old were swept away.
The search got wider and wider, JFRD said, and JSO and FWC crews were on the phone with the Coast Guard and the Navy as the search continued.
Happily, all three were rescued and are doing well, with the two children transported to the hospital as a precaution, JFRD said.
The father was found by the Buckman Bridge, doing "miraculously well" for how long he may have been in the water. The father was not wearing a life jacket, according to JFRD.
"A miraculous effort by @MyFWC, @JSOPIO and @THEJFRD to locate a father and two children separated from their boat," the tweet says. "All are alive and all are well."
the anchor wasn't holding well. they may have been further down when they initially got off the boat.
The search started after a boat was found anchored in the river near the 1200 block of Journeys End Lane in Mandarin with no one on board.
"There is a boat anchored in the water with no souls on board," the original tweet said.
First Coast News will continue to update this developing story.