The Coast Guard has called off a search for one of its own in the Eastern Pacific south of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Seaman Bryan K. Lee, 23, of Rancho Cordova, California, was reported missing last Tuesday from the National Security Cutter Waesche while the ship conducted counter-drug operations roughly 300 nautical miles south of the Mexican state.
After a 19,000-square-nautical-mile search that spanned more than a week, the service decided Monday to halt the effort.
“Our most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Seaman Lee,” Cmdr. David Stern, search-and-rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard District Eleven, said in a news release. “Considering all pertinent factors and available information, we made the difficult decision to suspend the search.”
Waesche launched a search-and-rescue operation shortly after Lee went unaccounted for last Tuesday around 6:30 a.m., using Mexican and U.S. assets, including a Mexican navy ship and maritime patrol aircraft; two U.S. Customs and Border Protection Dash-8 aircraft; a C-130 Hercules from the Air Force‘s 39th Rescue Squadron; a C-130 Hercules aircraft from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, Alaska; and the Waesche’s own drone.
Waesche was commissioned in 2010, the second ship in the Legend Class, the Coast Guard’s largest offshore maritime cutters at 418 feet long. It can hold a crew of nearly 150 and is used for maritime fisheries patrols, migrant and drug interdiction, search-and-rescue operations, and law enforcement.
The ship, homeported in Alameda, California, deployed for four months last year with the U.S. Navy’s Destroyer Squadron 15 in the Indo-Pacific region, returning home in August.
During that deployment, it participated in a number of exercises and operations, including joint exercises with the Japan and Republic of Korea coast guards, as well as the Philippine Coast Guard, according to the service.
The cutter deployed again some time before Christmas, according to the ship’s Facebook page.
Since Jan. 20, the Coast Guard has engaged in increased operations in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean as part of a surge of counter-drug and counter-migration efforts initiated by President Donald Trump.
After Lee went missing last week, Coast Guard officials announced Friday that they were searching for him. They described the area and effort as “vast.”
“The operation is being carefully coordinated to ensure maximum coverage and effectiveness,” according to a news release.
But on Monday, Stern said that, although they had scoured a “significant region” of the Pacific Ocean, the service decided to suspend the effort.
“This case has been extraordinarily challenging, and the decision to suspend the search pending new information is not an easy choice. We’re thankful for the support from our units and partners,” Stern said.
Attempts to reach Lee’s family were unsuccessful.
Coast Guard service members rarely die in the line of duty. Ensign Morgan Garrett, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, died Oct. 23, 2020, when her T-6B Texan II training aircraft went down in Alabama.
Another Coastie, Aviation Survival Technician First Class Phoenix Hanna, died last June during an off-duty surfing accident.
Related: Coastie in Viral Video Who Jumped on Drug-Running Sub Will Get Official Recognition