Coast Guard seeks help in search for 3 missing boaters

The Coast Guard is asking for help from local boaters in searching for three men who were supposed to return Sunday from a fishing trip.

The men, including Ulies Roldan, 36, of Tampa, left from the Courtney Campbell Parkway boat ramp in a 28-foot boat Friday. The identities of the other two men are still unclear, the Coast Guard said.

When Roldan didn't return home Sunday, his wife called authorities. Roldan fishes between Everglades City and Tampa, his wife told authorities.

"We don't have enough information to search for these guys, and any search and rescue case is a race against time," Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Tucker, rescue coordinator at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, said in a statement. "That's why it's important for boaters to contact us with any information regarding this vessel or Roldan they may have."

The Coast Guard is searching for a 1988, 28-foot Wellcraft with two outboard engines and the Florida registration of FL0340GD. The boat is painted red, white and gray.

Anyone with information should call (727) 824-7506 or marine VHF radio channel 16.

-- Times staff writer

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[Baylink]

"... or Coast Guard Group St Pete on VHF channel 16."