Hoax yacht distress call came from on land: Coast Guard

Reuters – 1 hr 4 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A hoax distress call that led to a massive search for a crippled yacht originated on land in New York or New Jersey, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Tuesday.

The call late Monday afternoon claimed 21 people had abandoned ship into life rafts after an explosion aboard the yacht "Blind Date" about 17 miles east of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the Coast Guard said. Several people were said to have been injured.

A frantic search was launched with 200 people hunting by boat and helicopter. But no signs of debris, life rafts or people were found and the search was suspended on Monday night, the Coast Guard said. The search cost taxpayers at least $ 88,000.

The distress caller claimed to be transmitting from a solar-powered radio because the boat's radio had been destroyed, meaning the caller's location could not be pinpointed using global positioning system tracking technology.

But after tracing two lines of location bearings from the call, Coast Guard officials said they now believe the call was most likely made on land in New Jersey or southern New York.

The Coast Guard has no definitive leads yet but is investigating possible ties to another hoax at a similar time last year.

"We're quite sure it's a hoax at this time," deputy commander of the Coast Guard's New York sector Captain Gregory P. Hitchen said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Initial Coast Guard estimates put the search's cost at around $ 88,000, but that figure could go higher, Hitchen said.

Making a false distress call is a federal felony that carries a prison sentence of five to 10 years and a fine of up to $ 250,000 in reimbursement to the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard said.

The call was pursued because it contained details more believable than normally seen in hoax calls, the Coast Guard said. More than 50 Coast Guard personnel were involved in the search, as well as members of the New York City police, fire departments, New Jersey state police, Nassau County police, and community volunteers.

There are about six yachts named the "Blind Date" nationwide, the Coast Guard said, and officials are investigating each one's location and owner. Most of the yachts do not fit the description from the call.

A reward of $ 3,000 for information leading to the arrest of the hoax perpetrators is being offered.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, additional reporting by Joseph O'Leary; Editing by Eric Beech and Cynthia Osterman)

Most Popular

  • Mother of 19-year-old killed by Border Patrol sues
  • KKK wants to 'adopt' highway in Georgia
  • Are 'Spray-On' Tans Safe? Experts Raise Questions as Industry Puts Out Warnings
  • Top conservative says read my lips: Don't sign 'no new tax' pledge
  • George H.W. Bush tears up during birthday interview with Jenna on 'Today'
  • China's Wuhan city covered in mysterious haze
  1. Coast Guard: Yacht Explosion Likely HoaxPlay Video

    Coast Guard: Yacht Explosion Likely …

    CBS 3 Philadelphia

  2. CW3 Troy Loining of the U.S. Coast Guard speaks to journalists outside the gates of the Coast Guard station at Sandy Hook, New Jersey

    CW3 Troy Loining of the U.S. Coast Guard …

  3. Coast Guard suspends yacht search, probes distress call as hoax

    Coast Guard suspends yacht search, probes …

    Reuters

  4. Captain Hitchen speaks during news conference announcing reward for information leading to arrest in New York

    Captain Hitchen speaks during news conference …

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news! .yahoo.c om/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

Read More @ Source

Nothing Sacred

Subscribe ow.ly | Facebook ow.ly | Twitter ow.ly Plot: To redeem himself after a hoax, reporter Wallace Cook proposes a series of stories on doomed Hazel Flagg. Hazel discovers she really doesn't have radium poisoning, but still accepts the big fling in New York that Cook offers her. At first, she has a great time, but complications arise when she and Wally fall in love, and an Austrian specialist discovers that Hazel is faking.

Video Rating: 5 / 5



Fraudulent Stories Here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman pictured in Te'o hoax talks about perpetrator

Image
Two of the people linked to an expansive hoax involving Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o attended the same Antelope Valley high school, according to the Southern California woman whose photos were used in the ruse. Diane O'Meara, who now works in marketing at STN Media Group in Torrance, spoke to NBC's "Today"  about the incident in a segment that aired Tuesday. In the segment, she said she met the supposed hoaxer, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, in high school but added that the two were not friends. Paraclete High football coach Norm Dahlia confirmed to The Times that Tuiasosopo played quarterback for the Lancaster school in 2007. A Deadspin.com report published last week first revealed the hoax but did not name O'Meara. The report claims that Tuiasosopo used photos of a girl he met at Paraclete High School in Lancaster as part of a Twitter account for a "Lennay Kekua," a fake woman whom he connected with Te'o. "My name is not Lennay Kek...
Keep reading

Iran Denies Space Monkey Phony

Image
After Iran announced last week that it had launched a monkey into space, web sleuths compared before and after photos of the furry astronaut and cried hoax. They claimed the monkey that made public appearances after the space flight in a bespoke suit looked nothing like the animal that had been shot into space, which seemed to have lighter fur and a mole above its eye. Did a monkey die in flight, asked the conspiracy theorists? Or did no primate ever leave the ground? Now the Iranian space agency has stepped forward to clear up any confusion. According to space official Mohammad Ebrahimi, it's true that the pictures don't match, and that they show two different monkeys. But Ebrahimi said that's not because of a hoax – it's because the pre-flight photo of a light-furred monkey was actually an archival photo and not a picture of the actual animal, Pishgam, who rode the rocket. According to the Iranians, Pishgam took a 20-minute flight and returned to earth s...
Keep reading

College Place Police Call Walmart Bomb Threat a Phony

Image
COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. - College Place Police are investigating an apparent bomb threat hoax at Walmart over the weekend.   Saturday night, police say the College Place Walmart called 911, reporting a bomb threat the store received, set to go off at 6:19 on Sunday morning. Officers and the College Place Fire Department arrived on scene and evacuated the store just before 1 AM that night. Officers and firefighters stayed there overnight blocking the doors, and didn't allow customers or employees back in until 7 AM.   Police say 6:19 came and went, but nothing exploded, no one got hurt, and they couldn't find any sort of explosive device, leading officers to believe the incident was an apparent hoax. Police say they don't know who made the threat, and while they're looking into leads, they don't have any potential suspects yet. Walmart returned to business as usual after 7 am on Sunday. Read More @ Source Sonic CD 510 (Earlies...
Keep reading