A 53-year-old man floating more than two miles off Seal Beach’s coast — and 12-plus hours after going missing — was rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter after its crew spotted his neon-green life vest and noticed him moving his legs as they got closer, officials said.
The discovery was made just after 10:45 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17 about two and a half miles offshore from the Seal Beach pier, more than a half-day after Paul Anthony Carbullido Jr. went missing from off Long Beach’s coast after falling from a personal watercraft Sunday night.
Petty Officer Adam Stanton of the Coast Guard said Carbullido was just floating in the water and wasn’t responsive at first, but once the helicopter got closer, he began moving his legs, prompting a rescuer to be lowered down to pluck him from the water.
Carbullido was taken to a hospital for treatment, authorities said.
A spokesman for the Coast Guard said Carbullido was conscious and suffering from hypothermia.
Carbullido was among a group of people on personal watercraft near the Queens Gate Entrance Channel when he and a woman both fell off of their watercraft, Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jack Crabtree said.
A search was underway for a man who fell from a personal watercraft off of Long Beach. (Photo by Key News Network)
Firefighters and police were called to the area around 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, Crabtree said. The two agencies, along with the Coast Guard, sent out vessels and helicopters to start the search.
About a half-hour later, a good Samaritan on a boat heard a woman screaming for help near the break wall, Crabtree said. The skipper helped pinpoint the search and lifeguards got in the water, swam to her and helped get the woman onto a fireboat to bring her to land, where an ambulance could take her to a hospital.
The break wall is made of large rocks, running parallel to the coast and roughly two to three miles out into the ocean.
Using cameras and helicopters, first responders found the two watercraft outside of the break wall at about 1:15 and at 1:45 a.m., Crabtree said.
Four LBFD fire boats, some Los Angeles police boats, a U.S. coast Guard vessel and a Coast Guard helicopter searched for him through the night, and the Coast Guard took the lead on the search shortly before daybreak.
City News Service contributed to this report.