Search suspended for missing parasailer

TREASURE ISLAND -- The Coast Guard has suspended a search for a parasailer missing in the Gulf of Mexico about a mile west of Sunset Beach on Treasure Island.

Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg began a search around 7 p.m. Sunday after receiving a call that witnesses reported seeing a motorized parasailer "spiral downward and land in the water,'' according to a Coast Guard statement.

Crew from Coast Guard Stations in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Eckerd SAR, St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue, Treasure Island Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office searched the area for nearly four hours but did not find anyone in the water. The search was suspended at 10:50 p.m.

"We don't know if in fact somebody was in the water at all," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer
Tasha Tully. "We're relatively sure we would have spotted somebody had they been there."

Tully said the status of the search is now "actively suspended," meaning search efforts are canceled unless further developments emerge.

"We haven't closed the case on it," she said, adding "we do get a lot of false alarms."

"We don't discourage people to report things," Tully said. "It could mean life or death one day."

-- Rita Farlow and Casey Cora, Times staff writers