Search on for missing Niagara fisherman
The U.S. Coast Guard continued its search Wednesday for a Niagara Falls man who went missing in Lake Erie Tuesday.
Missing is 37-year-old Giusseppe Reinhart.
U.S. and Canadian boat and air crews are searching for Reinhart.
They are a boat crew from Coast Guard Station Buffalo aboard a 45-foot response boat, an air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit, aboard an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter; an air crew from Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre Trenton, Ont., aboard an HC-130; an air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., aboard an HC-144 Ocean Sentry; an air crew aboard a helicopter from the Erie County Sherriff’s Office in Buffalo, a boat crew from Niagara County Marine Unit, an air crew from Niagara County Marine Unit, a boat crew from Hamburg, N.Y., Police Department, a boat crew from Customs and Border Protection, and Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary boats.
By 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, the above boat and air crews searched 6,039 square kilometre (2,332 square miles).
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Sector Buffalo watch standers received notification a vessel had washed ashore near Hamburg, N.Y. The vessel showed signs of having been used recently, but the owner was not with the boat.
By using information on the boat and reaching out to family, the Coast Guard was able to determine Reinhart, who had gone fishing alone Tuesday morning, was missing.
Coast Guard Sector Buffalo issued an urgent marine information broadcast asking all mariners to keep a lookout for Reinhart.
The Coast Guard planned to continue searching throughout Wednesday.
The Coast Guard is asking that anyone with information about Reinhart to call them at 716-8439527.
Niagara Regional Police said they were contacted by U.S. law enforcement and rescue services from the Buffalo area Tuesday related to an unmanned 14-foot boat washed up on shore in the area of Wanakah Beach in Hamburg.
The NRP said its marine unit assisted with the search at that time and again Wednesday.
The NRP said Reinhart, an avid fisherman, is believed to have launched his boat from the Crystal Beach boat ramp at approximately 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
His trailer and truck were located in the parking lot.
Reinhart often fished alone and was not a strong swimmer, the NRP said. Police ask anyone with information to call them at 905-688-4111 ext 2200.