Coast Guard intervenes in offshore kidnapping

After his father kidnapped him from a supervised visit in Cocoa, Florida, three-year-old Luke Finch spent the next two days at sea on a 32-foot sailboat, until the Coast Guard intercepted the vessel 140 miles southwest of Fort Myers Beach. 35-year-old Paul Martikainen surrendered to the Coast Guard without incident.

From the St. Petersburg Times:

The handcuffed father was kept on the sailboat, where he was guarded by several Coast Guardsmen. The boat was inspected after the father’s capture and appeared seaworthy, the Coast Guard said.

But sometime Tuesday as the Kodiak Island towed it to shore, officials said it sprang a leak. The cutter took everyone on board, and then the boat sank in the gulf.

The Coast Guard did not release any more details about that incident on Tuesday, including where it sank and at what time.

Nor did authorities say what kind of provisions the father had on board, or what his plan may have been. But his general course south convinced the Crocodile’s skipper of Martikainen’s destination.

“It looks like he was headed to the Yucatan Peninsula,” Smith said.

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By Ocean Navigator