The U.S. Coast Guard has
suspended its search for a missing diver off the coast of Naples, but his family is raising money to continue looking for 36-year-old Drake Sweet on their own.
So far,
they’ve raised $86,000 and exceeded their $75,000 goal, according to the fundraiser’s GoFundMe page. About 540 donations had been made as of early Saturday afternoon.
"We’re raising funds to support (a) continued private sector search for Drake Sweet until he is home..." the GoFundMe page says. “The outpouring of support, resources and search and rescue teams has been incredible to see.
"Thank you for your love for Drake. Let’s bring him home.”
Private search continues for diver Drake Sweet off Naples coast
The creator of the GoFundMe, Corina Froese,
posted on Facebook Saturday morning about the ongoing search for Sweet.
“There is an incredible group of family friends surrounding this effort right now and coordinating with Naples/Ft. Meyers/Venice area charters to see what professional level boats, planes, helicopters and military drones can safely search today and tomorrow,” she wrote. “The funds raised via GoFundMe are what will be used to hire professionals or reimburse for search-related costs.”
Froese says they’re looking for “40-50 foot boats with triple engines and a flybridge, military drones and planes/helicopters” to search Saturday and Sunday. Anyone who can help can comment on the Facebook post.
Froese ended her post by urging searchers to "be safe."
"Weather is deteriorating today and tomorrow, which means heading out in a small boat offshore just won’t be safe," she wrote. "Join this effort, donate or connect with an existing charter to keep our mission rolling safely.
“THANK YOU for working so hard and around the clock to bring him home.”
Diver off Naples coast never resurfaced, Coast Guard says
According to the Seventh Coast Guard District, air and surface crews began searching for Sweet after he failed to resurface Thursday afternoon while free diving with a friend about 69 miles west of Naples. Both the friend and the boat made it safely ashore, the Coast Guard said on the social media site X.
“Drake went missing while freediving on March 13th,” the GoFundMe page says. “Some of his gear was retrieved at the scene however he has not been located.”
The friend activated two satellite distress signals on their 21-foot boat, the Soggy Foot, at about 5 p.m. Thursday, according to information emailed to The News-Press by the Coast Guard. That's when the Coast Guard issued an "Urgent Marine Information Broadcast" and deployed Coast Guard search crews. The crews combed an approximately 4,275-square-mile area, but they suspended their search Thursday night “pending the development of new information," the Coast Guard said in the email Saturday.
Drake was wearing a gray camouflaged wetsuit, blue dive fins and a black weight belt when he disappeared, the Coast Guard reported.
The family didn't immediately respond to an email requesting more information.
To help out with the search, go to
facebook.com/corinafroese. To donate to the GoFundMe, visit
gofundme.com/f/bring-drake-sweet-home-continued-search-fund.
www.naplesnews.com
