Search suspended for missing American Queen crewmember

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(NEW ORLEANS) — The Coast Guard suspended its search at approximately noon Thursday for a man overboard from the motor vessel American Queen near Baton Rouge, La.

Rescue crews searched for more than 100 miles of the Lower Mississippi River for approximately 32 hours.

Watch standers with Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a radio call at 2:03 a.m. Wednesday on VHF-FM Channel 16 from the crew of American Queen reporting a man overboard and stating they launched a man-overboard rescue boat crew. The watch standers issued an urgent marine information broadcast and closed the Mississippi River from mile marker 230 to mile marker 224 for deep-draft commercial vessels.

Involved in the search were:

• Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter
• Coast Guard Station New Orleans 29-foot response boat-small
• Coast Guard cutter Kickapoo
• East and West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department marine units
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
• Louisiana State University campus police for shoreline search

– U.S. Coast Guard

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VesselFinder.com photo
By Professional Mariner Staff