The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search Thursday evening for a man who left Key Biscayne on his paddleboard to go spearfishing several days earlier.
Luciano Mercenari, 29, left his family’s Key Biscayne home around 5:15 p.m. Monday and was reported overdue to the Coast Guard about four hours later, the agency said.
Just before midnight on Thursday, the Coast Guard said it was suspending its search, which covered about 2,220 square miles, from the waters off the Keys to Palm Beach County.
“Suspending an active search and rescue case is never an easy decision, and so it is with heavy hearts that we extend our sincere condolences to Mr. Mercenari’s family and friends,” said Capt. Chris Cederholm, Coast Guard Sector Miami commander. in a statement. “We are grateful to our local and national partners for their assistance in this joint effort.”
On Tuesday morning, a boater found Mercenari’s paddleboard and waterproof gear bag about 4 miles off Haulover Inlet. The boater reported the items to the Coast Guard that night after identifying the paddleboard from an alert the Coast Guard had issued, the agency said.
The approximately 70-hour search for Mercenari involved multiple Coast Guard vessels and aircraft, along with agencies including Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Key Biscayne Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Luciano Mercenari was a rowing champion together with his twin brother Leonardo.
He attended Immaculata-La Salle high school. In 2012, the Miami Herald reported that the brother helped take the Miami Rowing Club’s lightweight eighth men’s boat to sixth place in the finals of the USRowing Junior National Championships on Melton Hill Lake.
Although the search has been called off, the Coast Guard is asking anyone with new information about Mercenari’s whereabouts to call the agency’s Sector Miami at 305-535-4300.
Miami Herald staff writer Milena Malaver contributed to this report.
