The search for the remaining three men lost at sea this weekend off the coast of Florida has been called off.

The three men that were not recovered are Marquis Cooper, William Bleakley, and Corey Smith. The Coast Guard feels that if there were any more survivors other than Nick Schuyler on the surface of the water, they would have been found.

Coast Guard search teams found a second life jacket, as well as a cooler floating about 16 miles from where Schuyler was recovered, but have found no other signs of the missing men.

Amateur efforts will continue to search for Cooper, Bleakley and Smith, but without the help of the Coast Guard. If anything should come of any amateur efforts, the Coast Guard will promptly assist them, but as of now, their official search and rescue is over.

On a personal note, I worked with Marquis Cooper’s father, Bruce, for the entire time that I covered sports in Phoenix. Bruce is a familiar face in the Valley of the Sun and everyone that has ever worked in the sports media there likely calls him a friend.

I recall listening to Bruce through the years as he talked about Marquis’ high school games, his recruiting trips, his playing time up in Washington, then about his chances of making it in the NFL. You couldn’t imagine a more proud father, and I was always in awe of his ability to cover sports as a pro, then turn it off in an instant to be a fan and a father.

I never met Marquis, but I feel like I knew him well. My deepest sympathies to Bruce and the rest of the Cooper family, as well as to the families of Corey Smith and William Bleakley.

Like everyone else, I’m still hoping for a miracle, but the reality of the situation is setting in and things are not good.

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