Coast Guard Ends Search For Teen Who Fell Off Cruise Ship

The Coast Guard has ended its search in the Gulf of Mexico for an 18-year-old from Louisiana who fell overboard during a cruise to celebrate his high school graduation.

By: Jamie Burch | WKRG-TV
Published: May 27, 2009

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The Coast Guard has ended its search in the
Gulf of Mexico for an 18-year-old from Louisiana who fell overboard
during a cruise to celebrate his high school graduation.
The search was called off Tuesday night. The Coast Guard says
Bruce O'Krepki went over the rails of the Carnival Fantasy on
Sunday night about 150 miles southwest of Tampa.
Boats and aircraft searched an area of nearly 5,300 square
miles.
O'Krepki graduated with honors from St. Thomas Aquinas High
School in Hammond, La., where he ran track and played soccer. He
was with about 30 classmates and members of their families on the
ship. His uncle Rick O'Krepki said the teen's parents were among
the chaperones.
The ship had left New Orleans en route to Key West.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)