Search operations were called off Sunday afternoon for a diver working in South Florida who had been missing since Friday in Bimini, Bahamas.
Ryan Purx was last seen near a shipwreck 800 meters offshore. His friends said the man was never found and that his wife was helping with the search.
On Thursday, he left a Palm Beach County marina in two boats with eight other people.
The Bahamas Department of Defense, which had been working with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector 7 to conduct a search, called off the search on Sunday.
NBC affiliate WPTV-TV Purx, 31, is from Connecticut and was a police officer in East Hartford from 2017 to 2021 before becoming a boat captain in South Florida, according to reports.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Plux family,” said the lieutenant colonel. Coast Guard Liaison Officer Matt Spad said in a Twitter post. “The decision to suspend active search operations pending further developments is in no way a possibility for us.”
