Search Suspended for Missing Boater, 2 Rescued

Joshua Catlett disappeared after his boat capsized

Authorities have called off the search for a Cumberland County, New Jersey man who went missing off the coast of Cape May Point yesterday.

Joshua Catlett disappeared after his fishing boat capsized and sank in the Delaware Bay.

"He is a sweet boy, and I just want him out of the water is all I want," Kathy Catlett told NBC10's Ted Greenberg.

Catlett, 23, was on a 40-foot fishing boat Linda Claire with two other men. The three went out around 5:30 Thursday morning to dredge for conchs.

About three hours into the expedition, their boat sank.

Good Samaritans aboard two other vessels rescued Catlett's friends Chris Serra, 27, and David Wood, 25.

The men were pulled from the water about six miles west of Cape May Point.

"Nobody really knows what happened; why the ship went down," said Catlett's uncle, Doug Larosa.

"He's been fishing all his life, so he knows what he's doing out there."

The rescued men were transferred from the fishing vessels Captain Brown and Sandra Lee and taken to Coast Guard Station Cape May.

They were treated at local hospitals and released.

"I'm hoping they'll find him alive. You never know," Kathy Catlett said on Thursday.

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