INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. – Deputies rescued three men Thursday evening after their boat sank about a half-mile off shore in the Atlantic Ocean, sheriff's officials said.
About 6:30 p.m., deputies responded to a call of a boat sinking near Sebastian Inlet, said Lt. Thomas Raulen, acting public information officer of the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, in a news release.
The three people, all males reportedly from Palm Bay, were found about 7 p.m. by deputies in a Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit helicopter. Deputies deployed a life raft, and the people used the raft to return safely to shore, Raulen said.
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The men were in an 18-foot boat that was overtaken by rough seas and capsized, Raulen said.
In addition to the helicopter, boats from the Sheriff's Office, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard were on the scene.