PORTSMOUTH, Va. — “It’s hard to deal with right now. We know he’s still out there somewhere," Ketara Fluellen said about her brother, Derrick Fluellen, being missing.
Ketara was understandably emotional Tuesday as she and her family tried to find out what happened to her brother. News 3 spoke with her on the phone.
“My brother was a nice person. My brother was a working man. He doesn’t bother anybody. He looked out for people," said Ketara.
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As News 3 has reported, Derrick was reported missing October 26 while working at Portsmouth Marine Terminal.
Tuesday, with the search for Derrick having been suspended, News 3 spoke to the Coast Guard about the search.
Cmdr. Holly Deal showed News 3 the boat that was used in the search. Along with the boat, a helicopter was used in the search but only a baseball cap that belongs to Derrick was found.
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Multiple law enforcement agencies from Norfolk and Portsmouth also helped search.
“Suspending an active search is one of the hardest things the Coast Guard does, and it’s not a decision we take lightly," Deal said.
A lack of information made the search difficult.
"We had a lot of questions that we just, unfortunately, were not able to answer and still are not able to answer," Deal explained. "The more information that we have, the more that we can hone our resources in in trying to locate a person."
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The search was called off after considering a number of factors, including environmental conditions and the amount of time that had passed since Derrick was last seen.
“An active search that has been suspended can always be reopened and the Coast Guard stands ready to reopen this case if new information becomes available," said Deal.
Exactly what happened was still unclear Tuesday.
“We just want answers. We want to know what happened," Ketara said.
As of Tuesday, there was no plan to resume searching for Derrick but the Virginia Port Authority Police Department was maintaining an open investigation into his disappearance.
