Ocean Springs Officer Missing After Week in Mississippi Sound
OCEAN SPRINGS -- Law enforcement, family members and residents across South Mississippi went through a tremendous scare this past week when three police officers and their companions went missing May 17.
That scare continues today for the family of Officer Stephen Bond and the Ocean Springs Police Department. Nearly a week after the co-workers and friends failed to return from a Sunday afternoon boat trip to Horn Island, the whereabouts of Bond still are unknown.
While Bond's wife, Susan, and mother, Susan Vallette, are holding onto hope that the 32-year-old man may be found on one of the islands stretching across the Mississippi Sound, the U.S. Coast Guard has called off its rescue mission, according to local news reports.
Hope is fading and the likelihood of Bond being found alive lessens each day. Some officials have even speculated that the Sound's currents already may have taken Bond out to sea, probably toward Louisiana.
Another storm that rolled through South Mississippi this weekend further hampered continued search efforts by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department and Ocean Springs police.
Media reports said Bond was one of five people aboard a 21-foot boat when 5-foot waves flipped its passengers into churning waters caused by high winds from an approaching storm. They were on a sailing trip that included time at the annual Horn Island Blowout.
Reportedly, the Coast Guard rescued about nine more people from the Gulf Coast waters.
The four boaters with Bond included reserve officer Jonathan Navas, 23, and his wife Whitney, patrol officer Michael Green, 31, and his girlfriend Becky Welch, 37. They spent Sunday night floating in the Sound before the Coast Guard rescued them Monday afternoon, May 18, near Horn Island. They were taken to Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, where all were treated and released by Thursday, May 21.
While at Memorial they recounted their ordeal to media outlets:
(videos are subject to time limit)
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