Coast Guard finds 4 boaters missing in Biloxi Bay

Four people were rescued earlier today from the Gulfport Shipping Channel after not returning from their boating trip Monday.

After being stranded over night at sea, four boaters were brought back to land where their families waited restlessly for them to return.

Forty-two year-old Victoria Farr, 37-year-old Richard Allen, 12-year-old Piper Farr, and 11-year-old Chase Craig left the pass Christian Pier around 9 a.m. yesterday.

Around 5:30 p.m. Monday, the four realized their boat was stuck on a sand bar near Chandeleur Islands and used all their gas trying to get unstuck.

The boaters had been expected back in port about 8 p.m. Monday.

The Coast Guard in Mobile received a call about 4:30 this morning about the boat, missing in the vicinity of Biloxi Bay.

Since that time, the families of the boaters were left thinking the worst. Breonna Craig said, “You hear about this stuff like every day that ships or boats go missing and like people are never found or they wash up and they go home in a body bag. That’s like the first thing that I thought of.”

Olivia Jordan said, “I was at a loss of words and I immediately started thinking the worst. Didn’t know if he was gonna come home dead or alive.”

After confirming the boaters’ truck and trailer were still left unattended, the Coast Guard coordinated the launch of two boat crews and an aircrew to search.

At about noon today, they were found and brought home to safety. Survivors Victoria Farr and Richard Craig said, “Got the kids covered up in dried clothes. Kept them warm all night. We just hunkered down. Stayed strong. I’m happy the kids are safe.” “That’s the whole thing. That the kids are safe. That’s like…they could’ve just come and took the kids. They could’ve left me and him. We would’ve been fine. I just wanted the kids home.”

“Happy, and we were crying because we were so happy that we were getting saved.”

Rescue crews that assisted in the search are from the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, the Coast Guard station in Gulfport, the State Department of Marine Resources, the National Park Service, and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.