Missing Fisherman Found Alive After Floating for 12 Hours

John Aldridge, the fisherman who went missing off his lobster boat five miles off of Montauk Point, has been found alive, the Coast Guard confirmed on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. 

Petty Officer Jetta Disco, a Coast Guard spokesperson, said Aldridge was found 43 miles south of Montauk Point by a Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. His boat was five miles off of Montauk Point when his fellow crew members reported him missing. 

He had been floating in the water for roughly 12 hours, Disco said. He was not wearing a life jacket. 

Aldridge was airlifted to Falmouth Hospital in Falmouth, Mass. "He is being treated for exposure, hypothermia and dehydration," Disco said. 

“I’d like to thank all the agencies, fisherman and friends for their efforts to find my brother,” Cathy Patterson, Aldridge’s sister, said.

Aldridge went overboard while keeping watch on the Anna Mary overnight. One of three crew members on the 44-foot commercial fishing boat, he was last seen on Tuesday at about 9 p.m. They reported him missing on Wednesday at 6:30 a.m., starting a massive search for eight-and-a-half hours.

Disco wasn't able to provide an exact location that Aldridge was found. "But it was pretty far out," she said. "He's very lucky." 

The search covered an area of 660 square miles — the size of 378,000 American football fields, the Coast Guard said. 

Not only did the Coast Guard have several of its fleet involved in the search, but also rescue helicopters and "a large community of commercial fishermen and lobstermen," Disco said. Two rescue boat crews from Coast Guard Station Montauk, two Coast Guard 87-foot rescue patrol boats, aircraft and two rescue helicopters from Cape Cod, along with several Good Samaritans and local fishing vessels took part in the search.

“The search and rescue coordination between the Coast Guard, its partner agencies and fishermen was exceptional. The fishing crews allowed us to search a much greater area,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason Walter, the officer in charge of Station Montauk. “To find this man in the water after this much time is amazing.”

Join Patch in wishing John Aldridge a speedy recovery and thanking all the men and women that took part in Wednesday's search.