NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - The search for a missing boater in Haulover Beach has come to a tragic end.
Crews had been searching the water for the boater after he was ejected from a vessel that struck a sandbar and crashed overnight Thursday.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the search ended at around 8 p.m. Thursday when Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission divers located the body of 27-year-old Zack Forte near the Haulover Inlet.
Officials received calls of the crash at approximately 2 a.m. Thursday.
All three people who were aboard the vessel landed in the water at the time of the crash, according to officials.
Two of them were rescued and are OK, but Forte was still in the water.
7News spoke with Dustin Wolf, a friend of Forte, who is now dealing with this loss.
“It’s hard. It’s a feeling of disbelief and just shock,” he said.
Wolf said he considered Forte as a brother.
“We’re just doing our best. That’s all, you know,” he said. “We’re just doing our best with the situation that, to me, is so random. It’s one of the most random things I’ve experienced.”
Wolf said he last spoke to Forte on Wednesday.
“He never mentioned a boat trip,” he said. “We never knew he had any friends with boats.”
Wolf said he’s thankful for the search crews and their efforts and for sharing information with him.
“I was ready to fly down there and help,” he said. “I’d just do what I had to do, and everyone, I just want to thank everyone for what they did, and I’m sorry that it ended in a bad result.”
Wolf described Forte as a kind and gentle soul.
“Zack was on a self-initiated mission to become something great,” he said. “He went on a limb and moved down to Miami and wanted to make his own path in the world.”
FWC officials will be leading the investigation.
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