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Coast Guard looks into possible hoax call

Posted at 4:28 PM, Oct 21, 2013
and last updated 2013-10-21 16:28:43-04

Portsmouth, Va. – The Coast Guard is now investigating what they are calling a possible hoax call for public assistance. They are asking for the public’s help to find out who made the call.

They say multiple assets and partner agencies responded to a call that was made on Sunday at 2:45 p.m.near Beaufort, N.C.

They say the caller told them there were five adults and two children who were on a boat that was taking on water near Core Creek Bridge.

Crews dispatched a 24-foot Special Craft Shallow Water and a CH-43 helicopter to search.

“False distress calls limit the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to actual emergencies,” said Cmdr. Joseph Dufresne, deputy commander of Sector North Carolina. “Ultimately, they penalize the local communities and mariners the Coast Guard is charged to protect by unnecessarily endangering the lives of responders and wasting hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars.”

If you know anything about this possible hoax, please call the CGIS Resident Agent Office, Wilmington, N.C. at 910-772-2229, or the Sector North Carolina Operations Center at 910-343-3881.