VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A massive search for a Daytona Beach diver who submerged Friday in the Atlantic Ocean and has not been since was suspended Monday night.
Jim Evans, an attorney serving the Daytona Beach and greater Florida area, never surfaced while diving off Volusia County.
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“This afternoon I have made the decision to suspend the search for Mr. Jim Evans,” Capt. Mark Vlaun said in a statement. “The Coast Guard and our partners extend our deepest condolences to the Evans family, who remain in our thoughts and prayers during this exceptionally difficult time.”
The Coast Guard said crews searched for 100 hours across 5,297 square miles.
According to his daughter, Kylie Evans, her father went diving 30 nautical miles offshore and never came back up to the boat. Kylie Evans said her father is an experienced diver and has made similar dives in the past.
“I’m just waiting for good news and praying he’s floating somewhere along the coast, waiting to be found,” Kylie Evans wrote Saturday in a tweet.
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville was leading the search for the diver with help from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and volunteer boaters.
Evans was wearing a multi-color camouflage dive suit and his green and orange marker buoys were still floating where the diver was last seen, according to the Coast Guard.
On Sunday, the Coast Guard deployed a C-130 plane in the search outside of Ponce Inlet. Crews had conducted more than 60 hours of search patterns by boat and air covering more than 2,350 nautical miles as of Sunday morning.