NASSAU, The Bahamas, Monday December 18, 2017 – United States Coast Guard has suspended the search for the 57-year-old American man who went missing when the plane he was flying crash landed about 18 miles northwest of Freeport, The Bahamas last Thursday.

The Coast Guard, along with The Royal Bahamas Police Force covered more than 308 square miles in the 24 hours they searched for Mark Tanner, from Gainesville, Florida.

“Suspending a case is never an easy decision nor is it a decision that is hastily made,” said Christopher Eddy, the US Coast Guard’s Seventh District Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator.

“We remain ready to reinstitute a search if new information becomes available.”

The Cessna 210 airplane, which Tanner was piloting with his 60-year-old wife, Janna Lower as his lone passenger, was travelling from Gainesville to North Eleuthera, The Bahamas when it had mechanical problems and made an emergency landing.

A seaplane rescued Lower from the water, but neither Tanner nor the wreckage of the plane was located.