ST. PETERSBURG — The Coast Guard was searching Saturday for a 35-year-old man last seen canoeing near Old Tampa Bay.
Missing is Joshua Ford from Pinellas Park.
According to reports, the Coast Guard received a call Saturday at 6:40 p.m. from Ford’s girlfriend stating he had failed to return at sunset as planned. Ford launched Saturday at 8 a.m. from Ben T. Davis Beach aboard a 14-foot orange canoe to fish between the Courtney Campbell Causeway and Howard Franklin Bridge.
The Coast Guard launched a boat crew aboard a 45-foot response boat from its St. Petersburg station and an aircrew on a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Clearwater.
Ford was last seen wearing shorts and a red-and-blue flannel shirt.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Eckerd College Search and Rescue and the Tampa Police Marine Patrol are assisting with the search.
Anyone with information leading to Ford's whereabouts is asked to call the Coast Guard Sector Command Center at 727-824-7506.
