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Surfer Feared Dead Returns From Trip To Key West

POSTED: Sunday, November 28, 2004
UPDATED: 5:10 pm EST November 29, 2004

After the Coast Guard searched for him and his family feared the worst, a missing Jacksonville Beach surfer returned home from an impromptu vacation Monday.

The search for Michael McCraw, presumed missing off the coast of Jacksonville Beach since Friday, was called off Sunday night, leaving the man's family looking for answers.

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His son said McCraw had gone surfing Friday and never returned. McCraw's locked truck was found near the beach Sunday. They also found his surfboard, wet suit and wallet missing.

McCraw said he decided the local waves weren't any good, so he and a friend rented a car at the Avenues Mall and drove to Key West in search of better surf.

His son, Joey Paramore, wasn't aware of this trip and had been concerned.

"I don't understand why, where is his wallet. His wallet's not at home, not in his truck. His wallet is nowhere to be found," Paramore said Sunday. "If he was surfing, he wouldn't have his wallet."

The Coast Guard searched more than 600 square miles of ocean with a helicopter from Air Station Clearwater, later joined by a C-130 fixed-wing aircraft from Air Station Clearwater, a 47-foot boat from Station Mayport, and another helicopter from Air Station Savannah in Georgia.

McCraw said he had no idea so many people were looking for him. He hadn't called his family to let them know he'd left town.

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