Coast Guard continues search for teen

NEWPORT, R.I. (WPRI) - The U.S. Coast Guard is searching Newport Harbor for a missing 17-year-old boy.

Investigators say they received a call around 8:30 Tuesday night from a woman who said her son, Theodore Oliviera, was missing.

The woman says a friend of Oliveira called her to say he was last seen around 11 p.m. Monday on a dinghy in Newport Harbor.

A cousin said the missing the teen got separated from friends on Monday. He was very concerned about his cousin’s whereabouts.

“Just mainly hoping that he’s out there and he’s alive. I mean, he’s not a really strong swimmer and we did find his stuff on a dock today, and he wasn’t back for it, so, my hope is that he’s just out there. I know he’s strong, he’ll make it, but I hope they find him soon.”

Rescue boat crews from Coast Guard Station Castle Hill, a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, and Narragansett Marine Task Force Crews are conducting the search.

Because the authorities weren’t notified for nearly 24 hours that the boy was missing, the searches got off to a less than ideal start.

“We’re also searching on the land as well,” said Lt. William Fitzgerald of the Newport Police Department. “We're following up on any type of lead locating this juvenile.”

Crews said they have no clues at this point and will keep searching. They are using rescue boats and a helicopter and getting help from rescue crews from Portsmouth, Newport, Middletown, Warwick, Jamestown and North Kingstown.

The Coast Guard said this is still a search operation and not a rescue operation.

Anyone with any information about the missing teenager is asked to contact Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at (508) 457-3211.

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