Authorities Won't Stop Search For Missing Olympic Sailor

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife officers have spent 24-hours straight – with no plan of stopping – searching for an Olympic sailor whose boat was found abandoned just off Dinner Key Marina Thursday night.

Trevor Moore, who is a sailing coach, was last seen early Thursday afternoon and also captured on surveillance tape when he left the U.S. Sailing Center in a 15-foot inflatable power boat.

"After lunch, around 1 p.m., I saw him go out in a blue RIB," said Daniel Leira.

Thursday around 5 p.m. the boat was found tangled in some moorings.

"The boat was found just off the edge of Dinner Key tangled up in mooring lines by a sailboat," said Liz Barraco, a spokeswoman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Now everyone is out here putting in an effort trying to find this gentleman."

On the boat were personal belongings to the 30-year-old Moore who was a member of the 2012 Olympic team sailing team.

He and his teammate are featured in a You Tube video in which that teammate Eric Storck describes Moore as "a very good skipper." Moore says making the Olympic team was one of his goals and dreams.

Among the items found on the inflatable boat were a life jacket and a GPS.  A source told CBS4 the GPS showed that the boat reduced speed by Soldier Key, south of Stiltsville, and zig-zagged back to where it came from.  It's believed that Moore was off the boat at that time.

Leira, a sailing coach, said he's concerned.  He said it's not difficult to be knocked off an inflatable.

"If you're traveling at a high rate of speed, it's very easy to fall off unless you have a safety band, you can easily fall off the boat and the boat can keep moving if you are not on board," said Leira.

By early Friday afternoon, eleven vessels and two helicopters has searched 180 square miles.

"It's calm seas. The wind is light out of the east, pushing everything from the shore. The search is confined to Biscayne Bay," said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Gabe Somma. He told CBS4's Peter D'Oench "A lot of people are looking for him and we hope to find him.

Somma said, "If anyone has seen him, call the Coast Guard." The Coast Guard is in charge of the search.

FWC is in charge of the investigation.

Moore's fiance, Libby Patton, posted on her Facebook page early Friday morning:

"PRAYERS: My fiancé and best friend, Trevor Moore, is missing after a boat ride In coconut grove this afternoon. His boat was found this evening--still in gear-- by a small island close to shore. please pray for Trevor."

D'Oench spoke with Patton by telephone as she was on one of the search boats on Friday.

"Right now we are searching the area and there is nothing that stands out," she said. "I can just tell you that Trevor did very well, has lots of knowledge of the water and can navigate like nobody else. But we need everyone out there who knows the water and I hope they can help search for him and hopefully bring him back today."

Patton said she intends to stay out on the water searching for her fiancé for as long as it takes.

"I pray that people will do what they can and pray that we will find him," said Patton.

D'Oench asked Patton if her fiancé was wearing a life jacket.

"I don't know but I don't think he was," she said.

Pat Downey of the U.S. Sailing Center said there was surveillance tape of Moore getting on boat and leaving the Center.

He said nothing unusual was captured on that tape. He said he did not think that Moore spoke with anyone before he left.

Downey said the tape had been turned over to the FWC.

Barraco said FWC investigators were planning to download the tape and study it. She did not know if that tape was going to be released.

The Coast Guard told CBS4's Donna Rapado that while they are working out of their Miami Beach station they have pooled all their resources from around South Florida.

They said they will continue to search overnight for Moore with no cut off point just yet.