Coast Guard: Body Found In Sunken Boat In L.I. Sound

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) --  A woman's body was recovered Monday from the wreckage of a 50-foot power boat
that sank after hitting a rock in the Long Island Sound, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Petty Officer Ian McGoohan of the Coast Guard in New Haven, Conn., said the body was found before 8 a.m. Monday. The body has not been identified and was taken to the chief medical examiner's office.

The Coast Guard said they received a distress call at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday that the vessel named Priceless had struck Pulpit Rock near Fisher Island and sank with 10 people aboard.

A good Samaritan aboard a nearby vessel quickly responded to the scene and rescued nine people and a dog.

"We cannot thank the good Samaritan enough for their quick response to lend a hand," Lt. Jeff Janaro, spokesman for Sector Long Island Sound, said in a statement.

The 10th passenger, who was identified as Mary Patenaude, was confirmed missing after the boat sank in about 42 feet of water, officials said.

The Coast Guard deployed two boats, a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft to search for Patenaude, but the search was suspended after the woman's body was found.

Statements from survivors indicate that Patenaude attempted to re-enter the vessel as it was sinking, Old Mystic Fire Chief Ken Richards Jr. told The Day of New London.

Several Connecticut agencies also joined the search.

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