UPDATE: Missing Boater in Great South Bay Found

The US Coast Guard has ended the Great South Bay search effort for 24-year-old boater Joseph DiGiacomo, who’d been reported missing by his father on Sunday.

The father of DiGiacomo contacted Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound's Command Center to report his son was safely ashore, according to a press release issued by the Coast Guard.

The father explained that the boat broke down, and a good Samaritan had helped his son, according to the release.

The Coast Guard had begun searching for the missing 24-year-old man in the Great South Bay after Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders received a call from the father reporting DiGiacomo was overdue from a boating trip aboard an 18-foot, white and blue Bay Liner, according to an earlier press release issued by the Coast Guard.

Sector Long Island Sound had issued an urgent marine information broadcast on VHF channel 16 and launched a boat crew from Coast Guard Station Fire Island to search for the missing boater and his dog, the release said.

His father had last seen DiGiacomo when they launched the boat Sunday afternoon at a boat ramp in Islip, according to the release.