ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Search efforts to find two missing firefighters last seen near Port Canaveral will focus on an area 50 miles east of St. Augustine where a tackle bag belonging to one of the firefighters was found.
JFRD confirmed during a news briefing that the bag was found at around 11 a.m. Monday. JFRD said the bag was found by a civilian searcher who came to assist in the search. The bag belongs to missing JFRD firefighter Brian McCluney, according to his wife Stephanie McCluney and later confirmed by JFRD.
JFRD plans to ramp up their search around that area on Tuesday and is asking for volunteers to meet at the Mayport Boat ramp at 7 a.m. to assist.
"We need as many boats as we can get tomorrow that are in the range and can work at a 30-to-60-mile range," JFRD Interim Director/Fire Chief Keith Powers said. "That's got to be some pretty big boats. The offshore seas are supposed to be pretty calm tomorrow, but we still need to make sure that we keep the people that are searching safe."
Brian McCluney and his friend Justin Walker, a Fairfax, Va. firefighter, went fishing near Port Canaveral on Friday but never returned.
Since their disappearance, several agencies and many volunteers have stepped in to find Walker and McCluney.
"I want to thank the community for their outpouring of support for this family, for this fire department -- helping us look for these brothers," Powers said. "Please, please, I beg you to keep Stephanie [McCluney] and those children in your thoughts and prayers."
Though the search has entered its third day, Powers maintains hope that the found tackle bag will bring them one step closer to finding McCluney and Walker.
"We're going to find these guys," Powers said. "We finally started zeroing in a little bit today and we're going to find them. Absolutely, it's a rescue mission."
Offshore boats may also be out all night searching for the missing firefighters, according to Powers.
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