Published: August 29, 2008 10:14 pm      

LAKE ONTARIO: Missing boaters found 'alive and well'

and Karen Keefe

OLCOTT — An afternoon-long search for two missing boaters off Olcott harbor ended with good news Friday.

A Pennsylvania couple were found “alive and well in Canadian waters,” said Chief Deputy James Voutour of the Sheriff’s Department.

Frank J. Yantos, 61, and Mary-Ellen Fosbrink, 60, both of Del Mont, Penn., were rescued at 4:50 p.m. Friday. The search was launched after they reportedly did not return to Olcott harbor at their scheduled time.

The two were found, after clinging to their capsized boat for almost two days, about 8 miles southeast of Toronto in Lake Ontario. They were rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard cutter Sam Risley, according to O.S. 1 Benjamin Stumbo of the U.S. Coast Guard, Buffalo Sector. The Coast Guard led the search, which also included the Niagara County Sheriffs Department marine division and Olcott fire crews.

Stumbo said the couple was doing well and did not need hospitalization. The cutter was taking them to Toronto, and they planned to return to Olcott from there, he said.

Yantos and Fosbrink had set out early Wednesday morning from Olcott in Yantos’ homemade, 25-foot aluminum pontoon-type boat. They headed to the Somerset power plant and were returning when the weather worsened, according to the Coast Guard.

The boat capsized Wednesday afternoon amid 6-foot waves when they had slowed down to get out of the way of a freighter, Stumbo said. The waves “came over the boat and rolled it over,” he said.

Stumbo said the Canadian rescuers reported that the boaters were “in pretty good condition.” He said the boat will need a new motor, but otherwise is in pretty good shape.

The boat has a 5-foot by 5-foot cabin and is equipped with radar, multiple antennas, a GPS system, 3 VHS radios, a CB radio, two cell phones and flares, Stumbo said.

He said once the boat capsized, the radios were no good, and Yantos could not get to the flares.

Voutour said Friday afternoon that it was “not a full-blown search” because at that point, they had no idea if Yantos was “at a picnic or he’s out in the water.” While the search was still going on, Voutour said attempts to contact Yantos had been fruitless.”

Deputies responded to the Olcott Marina about 1 p.m. Friday after an the marina director reported a truck with a trailer had been parked in the marina since Wednesday.

The director said she knew Yantos, a regular at the marina, and said he usually stayed for the summer at a campground across Route 18. She told deputies he usually returns to the marina on a daily basis, the report said.

The director told deputies she was contacted Friday by Yantos’ neighbor at the campground, who told her Yantos left to go fishing about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday and had not been seen since.

The neighbor told deputies Yantos had mentioned Tuesday night that he was going fishing with his girlfriend, early the next morning. The neighbor told deputies it was “highly unusual” for Yantos to be gone longer than a day, the report said, and campground management had confirmed Yantos had not been seen in a couple of days.