BALTIMORE — The Coast Guard, along with state and local agencies, are searching Thursday for two missing boaters near Stafford, Va.
Missing are Charles Zinter, 58, white male with dark hair, and Melissa Smarr, 55, white female with blond hair, both from Stafford.
Coast Guard Sector Baltimore watchstanders received a call from the Stafford County Sherriff’s office at approximately 11 p.m., Wednesday reporting the two overdue boaters.
A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Washington and a crew aboard a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., launched to search for the couple along with personnel from the Maryland State Police, Stafford County Sherriff’s Department, Charles County Sherriff’s Department and Maryland Natural Resources Police.
A crew aboard a Maryland State Police helicopter was the first to find the 19-foot boat the couple was last seen aboard, anchored in the Potomac River approximately one mile from the Landmark Yacht Club in Aquia Creek.
The Coast Guard Crew from Station Washington arrived on scene and noticed no one aboard.
Personnel from the Landmark Yacht Club reported the couple as overdue.
The Coast Guard is asking for anyone with information on the boater’s whereabouts to please contact the Sector Baltimore Command Center at 410-576-2525.