Sailor missing 66 days rescued off North Carolina

A South Carolina sailor missing for 66 days was rescued Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles off Cape Hatteras, N.C., the U.S. Coast Guard announced.

Louis Jordan, 37, was spotted on his capsized 35-foot sailboat, Angel, by the container ship Houston Express. The German-flagged vessel took him aboard and notified the Coast Guard command center in Portsmouth, Va., about 1:30 p.m.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew took off the air station in Elizabeth City, N.C., two hours later and transported Jordan to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk. Va. His condition was not immediately available.

In a phone call with his father, Jordan said, "I was just praying about you because I was afraid that you guys were crying and sad that, you know, I was dead. And I wasn't dead."

Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said he apparently told rescuers he had survived by catching fish, The Virginian Pilot reported. It was not immediately known when Jordan's boat capsized or when it lost its mast.

Jordan set sail from the Bucksport Plantation Marina in Conway, S.C., on Jan. 23, destination unknown, Doss told USA TODAY from the Miami district office. On Jan. 29, his father, Frank, called the Miami office, saying he had not heard from his son in the past week and wondering if the Coast Guard had any information.

On Feb. 7, Jordan's mother reported that her son still had not contacted the family, so the Coast Guard began a 10-day "communications search" from Florida to New Jersey -- checking marinas, bridge operators, bank, social media and other sources for any indication of his whereabouts, Doss said. Nothing turned up.

Mariners did report seeing a vessel that matched the description of Jordan's boat on Feb. 8, but the Coast Guard determined the sightings were erroneous.

Air patrols were alerted to pay extra attention during their regular coastal flights but also came up empty handed.

Doss said intensive air and water searches were not mounted because Jordan had not notified his family, the intercoastal marina or anyone else where he was headed.

"We could not develop a search area," he said.

Jordan's father thanked the captain of the Houston Express for saving his son.

"This is a beautiful world if everybody would just do the right thing, it would be great for all of us," he said, according to audio released by the Coast Guard.