By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force has suspended its search for an American teen who reportedly jumped overboard from a pleasure vessel in Bahamian waters last week.
RBDF Commodore Raymond King told reporters yesterday: “That search, unfortunately, has been suspended.”
“We used the drones. We used divers. We used air assets from the Coast Guard without success in finding him.”
Cameron Robbins, 18, went missing on Wednesday night after he jumped from a pleasure vessel near Athol Island.
According to international reports, Robbins recently graduated from University Lab School and was on a graduation trip.
A video allegedly showing him splashing in the water before drifting away from the boat circulated on social media.
Commodore King said the area where the missing teen was last seen is known to be infested with sharks.
“We have worked along with regional partners and local agencies, and we have used a number of search and rescue units, a number of hours and days of search, and it’s most unfortunate that we weren’t able to locate that individual,” he said.
“But the harbour patrol unit, as they patrol that area, they continue to look for possible remains, but the probability of survival decreases significantly, particularly if persons are not adorned with life vests and particularly if they’re perceived to being intoxicated.”
“Your vision, your judgment, everything has been impaired, and I can tell you that area where that individual reportedly jumped over, it’s an area that’s really shark-infested as well. I’m quite familiar with that area.”
Commodore King could not say what caused the teen to jump overboard.
“To me, it’s all speculation,” he said. “What concerns us is that an individual went overboard, and we tried our best with local and regional partners to locate him.”
