The U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for three children who were seen going into the Mississippi River near New Orleans Saturday night.
"...I've made the difficult decision to suspend our active search for the three children," said Capt. Kelly Denning, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans Commander, Sunday night.
Missing are a 15 year-old male, 14 year-old female and an 8 year-old female last seen entering the water Saturday evening near the Crescent City Connection Bridge. Rescue crews searched more than 93 miles along the Mississippi River with a combined 55 hours of searching.
Our media partners at The Advocate/Times Picayune have done extensive reporting about what happened and who those children are. To read their story, click here.
"Our prayers are with the families during this difficult time," Denning said. "The decision to suspend any search and rescue case is never easy but considering the extensive search efforts of our Coast Guard men and women, in conjunction with other response agencies the search was called off."
Assisting in the search were a Coast Guard Air Station helicopter crew, two Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Teams, New Orleans boatcrews, the Coast Guard Cutter Sawfish crew, Coast Guard New Orleans boatcrew, Venice boatcrew, New Orleans Police and Fire Departments, Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Dept., St. Bernard Sheriffs Dept. and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Prepardeness.
This is a developing story and KATC will update this story as more information is received.
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