Coast Guard suspends search for missing Mass. fishing boat

BOSTON (AP) _ Two fishermen were presumed dead Friday after the Coast Guard suspended its search for their vessel off the coast of Maine. <br/><br/>Wood debris and a distress beacon spotted off the shoals

Friday, February 2nd 2007, 6:29 pm

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) _ Two fishermen were presumed dead Friday after the Coast Guard suspended its search for their vessel off the coast of Maine.

Wood debris and a distress beacon spotted off the shoals of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, were believed to be from the Lady Luck, a 52-foot fishing boat based in Newburyport that has been missing since Thursday.

But by Friday afternoon, Coast Guard search teams had not found the boat or its two-member crew, skipper Sean Cone, 24, of North Andover, and Dan Miller, 21, of North Hampton, N.H.

``To suspend a search is one of the toughest decisions to make,'' Rear Adm. Tim Sullivan said. ``We grieve with the families of the Lady Luck's crew and with New England's fishing community.''

A coastal storm was approaching the search area with a force that could generate 17-foot seas and 40-knot winds. A gale warning was posted for the Gulf of Maine.

The fishing boat was the second vessel in the region to go missing this week. The wreckage of the New Bedford-based fishing vessel Lady of Grace was found Sunday on the bottom of Nantucket Sound. One crew member's body was recovered, while the other three remain missing and presumed dead.