The US Coast Guard suspended its search in the chilly waters off Breezy Point Monday evening for the sixth victim of a boating accident that killed three people and put two others in the hospital a day earlier, officials said.
Loved ones of Vernon Glasford were holding out hope the 52-year-old Bronx man would be found alive before the Coast Guard decided to halt the active search around 6 p.m.
“He was the best person in the world. He was the best person you would ever come across and would help anybody,” cousin Gloria Morris, 52, told The Post about the father of two.
52-year-old Vernon Glasford was reported missing person by authorities after the vessel capsized Sunday afternoon near Breezy Point.
“You need help, you call him, he’s there. Never too busy for family.”
Glasford and five others were fishing aboard a 30-foot-long Grady White that set sail from a Howard Beach marina Sunday morning – when the boat somehow capsized near the entrance of the Ambrose Channel, the city’s main shipping lane.
Someone onboard made a distress call around noon from the sinking boat and told New York City 911 operators the vessel was taking on water — leading to a desperate rescue effort by NYPD divers, the Coast Guard, and other agencies.
Rescuers tracked the emergency caller’s cell phone which still pinged from underwater to the sunken boat, sources said. Authorities pulled five victims from the chilly waters — four of whom were unconscious during the rescue.
They airlifted two people to Staten Island Hospital and brought three others to Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook where they were taken to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey.
FDNY divers return from the capsized boat on Sunday. FreedomNewsTVThree victims eventually died from their injuries. One is in critical condition and the last is stable, cops said.
The Coast Guard, along with other agencies, had continued its search for Glasford through most of Monday with choppers, a small plane, ships and smaller boats covering 842 square miles over the span of 30 hours before the search was suspended.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Vernon Glasford,” Capt. Jonathan Andrechik, the Coast Guard Sector New York commander, said in a statement.
A boat capsized Sunday between Brooklyn and Staten Island. Paul Martinka“The decision to suspend a search is always difficult. Though our active search has ended, our support and sympathy remain with all those impacted by this tragic incident.”
Morris, Glasford’s cousin who spoke to the Post before learning the search was suspended, said the family was struggling, but “hopeful.”
“[We’re] still crying, trying to cope, trying to gather strength, trying to think that we are still in a dream. God knows best,” she said.
The US Coast Guard is still searching for a potential sixth victim. FreedomNewsTVThe Coast Guard said it’s working with the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation about the next stages of the investigation.
On Monday, the daughter of survivor Sewchand Maniram told The Post that her recovering dad is “doing good, physically.”
“Mentally, not so good with everything that happened,” she said. “My dad already feels horrible because he survived. He can’t reach out to anyone. He’s kind of helpless [that way].”
Five of the six occupants of the boat were pulled from the freezing waters after the vessel capsized around noon. FreedomNewsTVManiram often went fishing with the same crew, and it was “nothing out of the norm for him,” she added — noting that the family was still in shock after the tragedy.
“We are still shaken up,” she said.
It’s still not clear what happened before the boat flipped, and authorities are investigating the accident.
The NYPD’s Harbor and Aviation units responded to the call, as did the FDNY’s Marine unit, the New Jersey State Police and the Sandy Hook Pilots.
David Propper contributed reporting.
