Fisherman vanishes while working on commercial boat off Texas coast, officials say

JULY 19 UPDATE: The man who went missing from a commercial vessel has been identified as shrimper Christopher Vargas, of La Feria, according to KGBT. He reportedly fell from a shrimp trawler.

JULY 18 UPDATE: After searching about 1,903 square miles for over 32 combined hours, the Coast Guard suspended the search for the fisherman who disappeared from a commercial vessel at 1:09 p.m. Sunday, July 17. “After exhaustively combing the search area with multiple air and on-water crews, we made the difficult decision to suspend our search for this missing fisherman,” Senior Chief Petty Officer Josuah Chears-Stevens said in a news release. “We would like to express our deepest sympathies to this man’s family and friends.” The original story is below.

A 35-year-old crew member working on a 65-foot commercial fishing vessel vanished while off the Texas coast, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Command center watchstanders with Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi got a call at about 5 a.m. July 16 from the master of the Santa Fe vessel, according to a news release. He reported one of his fishermen went missing off South Padre Island.

“An urgent marine information broadcast was launched,” authorities said, and air and boat crews began searching for the fisherman.

The missing man is believed to have not been wearing a life jacket, and he was last seen in a tank top and shorts.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sector Corpus Christi at 361-939-0450.

This story was originally published July 17, 2022 at 7:06 AM with the headline "Fisherman vanishes while working on commercial boat off Texas coast, officials say."