Coast Guard searching for diver who went missing near shipwreck off Key West

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a diver who went missing near the Vandenburg Wreck, a shipwreck off Florida's Key West that serves as an artificial reef, on Wednesday.

Air and surface crews are looking for Thomas Faulkenberry, 44, who was last seen wearing black dive gears and fins, the Coast Guard said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. 

As of Thursday morning, the search was ongoing.

#BREAKING @USCG air and surface crews are searching with partners for 44yr old Thomas Faulkenberry, who was last seen diving, Wed., wearing black dive gear with black fins in the vicinity of Vandenburg Wreck.

Anyone with more information call Sector Key West @ 305-282-8727#SAR pic.twitter.com/AQoRszyLPl

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) August 2, 2023

The wreck is a popular attraction in the waters near Key West. The Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg was was originally commissioned in 1944 and was scuttled to the Florida Keys Shipwreck Trail in May 2009, where it serves as an artificial reef. The Vandenberg is the second-largest wreck ever to be used as an artificial reef and is about 145 feet underwater. It sits upright on the ocean floor, and is about 100 feet tall at its highest point. 

In 2021, a diver drowned near the wreck, CBS Miami reported at the time. The diver, identified as 50-year-old Jordan Jay Fisher, of Rockport, Texas, was with her husband, two other people and a divemaster. The group said they lost sight of Fisher when returning to the mooring line connecting them to their dive boat. 

In:
• Florida Keys
• Shipwreck
• Oceans
• Florida

Kerry Breen

Kerry Breen is a news editor and reporter for CBS News. Her reporting focuses on current events, breaking news and substance use.