2 Missing Men Found on a Sailboat Adrift in Atlantic

Joe DiTomasso, Kevin Hyde had last been heard from Dec. 3
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2022 3:42 PM CST
2 Missing Men Found on a Sailboat Adrift in Atlantic
A photo of the men's boat.   (Twitter / US Coast Guard Mid-Atlantic)

At the beginning, Nina DiTomasso thought it was just a "typical dad" move. "My dad is notorious for losing his cellphone or his charger," she tells CBS News of 76-year-old Joe DiTomasso, so when his family didn't hear from his for a few days, they weren't too concerned. That calm didn't last for long. WPVI reports DiTomasso and Kevin Hyde, 64, had set off on a New Jersey-to-Florida sail on Nov. 26 and last made contact on Dec. 3, after departing from Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. By the weekend, relatives were worried. But on Tuesday night, 10 days after they had last been heard from, the United States Coast Guard announced the men and a pet dog named Minnie that was with them had been found safe.

Their 30-foot sailboat was discovered a little more than 200 miles east of Delaware by a tanker vessel, which the men signaled by waving their arms and a flag. The Coast Guard says the men had run out of fuel, and Natalie DiTomasso says their generator failed so their radio didn't work. "The last time we know they picked up food, I believe was around Dec. 3," she adds. "So low on provisions, so I cannot even imagine what they been through." The men are expected to be reunited with family on Wednesday. They are said to be in good condition, though officials said the men struggled to stand when they were rescued, and a family member says they were too tired to talk so they weren't immediately interviewed. (More missing boater stories.)

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