Coast Guard Suspends Search for Plane Missing Since Friday

The Coast Guard suspended the search for two missing aviators on Monday at 6 p.m. following a report of an overdue plane last seen Friday between St. Thomas and Culebra, Puerto Rico.

Missing are 33-year-old Carl Frederick Reichard Stubbe and 19-year-old Oswald Fuentes Roman, the agency said in a news release Monday night announcing the end of the search.

Officials from the Center of Radar Approach Control notified U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan watchstanders at approximately 9:30 p.m., Friday, reporting they had lost the radar signal from a Cessna Skyhawk, six miles west of St. Thomas.

The watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Borinquen and a Boat Forces Detachment St. Thomas rescue crew to initially search the area, according to the release.

The Cessna originally took off from Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico with intentions to make a practice approach in St. Thomas and return to Aguadilla, the Coast Guard reported.