Family Missing at Sea: Boys Under 8 Abandoned Ship in Cooler? (VIDEO)
Coast Guards searched through the night on Monday look for an unidentified family of four who appear to have been lost at sea near the central California coast.
The family set to sail on a boat called the Charmblow some time on Sunday in an area where forecasters had warned that there would be rough seas. The first distress call from the boat, placed to the Coast Guard, was made late Sunday afternoon, according to the Associated Press.
Through a series of calls, investigators have discovered that the family was composed of four members, a mother and father, their son and his cousin. Both boys were under the age of 8, according to reports. The family's boat, had begun to take in water, the father said during one call.
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In the last call that that was placed, the father stated that he and his family were abandoning ship.
"Coast Guard, Coast Guard, we are abandoning ship. This is the (Charmblow), we are abandoning ship," the call said, according to the AP.
Coast Guard members looking for the family, but are uncertain how the family managed to get off of the ship. In one distress call, it was suggested that the family might have used a cooler and life preserver ring to escape safely.
"It's very, very chilly out there," CNN's Dan Simmons said Monday night on Anderson Cooper 360. "It would be pretty tough for anyone to survive at this point actually."
It is unclear who the family is and where the boat is registered. No missing persons reports have been filed, according to AP.
"There is no registry for a boat with this name," Simmons said. "At this point some people are speculating that this might have been a break. Perhaps it would be a good thing if this were a hoax. Obviously it would be a very, very cruel prank."
Coast guards are treating the case as legitimate, according to reports. Radio communication was able to give an approximate location of where the 29-foot sailboat's last distress call may have come from, about 65 miles off of Monterey Bay.
