Report: Coast Guard spent $1.6M seeking 4 lost men

In this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, shows former University of South Florida football player Nick Schuyler clinging to the engine of an overturned boat in the Gulf of Mexico, as the U.S. Coast Guard approaches, Monday March 2, 2009. Schuyler, Marquis Cooper, William Buckley and Corey Smith left Clearwater, Fla, on a fishing trip Saturday morning and did not return. The other three remain missing. Schuyler told rescuers that the 21-foot boat was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening in rough seas and that the others got separated from the boat, Capt. Timothy M. Close said. Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been clinging to the boat since then. - photo by Associated Press

APTOPIX Missing Boate Heal — In this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, shows former University of South Florida football player Nick Schuyler clinging to the engine of an overturned boat in the Gulf of Mexico, as the U.S. Coast Guard approaches, Monday March 2, 2009. Schuyler, Marquis Cooper, William Buckley and Corey Smith left Clearwater, Fla, on a fishing trip Saturday morning and did not return. The other three remain missing. Schuyler told rescuers that the 21-foot boat was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening in rough seas and that the others got separated from the boat, Capt. Timothy M. Close said. Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been clinging to the boat since then. - photo by Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida newspaper reports the search for two NFL players and two other men missing in the Gulf of Mexico cost the U.S. Coast Guard $1.6 million.

The St. Petersburg Times reported Tuesday that the three-day search covered more than 20,000 square miles and required 230 combined hours of Coast Guard aircraft and boats.

Former University of South Florida football player Nick Schuyler was the only survivor. He was found atop the capsized 21-foot fishing boat on March 2, about two days after it overturned in rough seas off Clearwater.

Searchers never found Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and former USF player William Bleakley.

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