Friends and Family… Nancy and I need your help.
Nancy and I are very close with a wonderful couple from Pearl River, New York: Gregg and Grace Cosgrove. Gregg is one of my best friends, a teammate on my cycling team whom I’ve known for many years. They are terrific people of the highest quality. Their son Chance is 12 and their daughter is 8 years old.
As many did this past week on beaches all across the country, Gregg took his family to Corolla, the North Carolina beaches. At around 10am on Friday, Gregg and his 12 year old son, Chance, were boogey boarding very close to shore in no more than a few feet of water. Gregg and his son rode a small harmless wave towards shore and when Gregg emerged, he could not find his son. The boogie board was up on shore a few feet away, but the boy had been dragged out to sea. He was gone in an instant. You could only imagine the horror of losing your son, and having it happen in a split second. For all of us, it’s the absolute horror we lose sleep thinking about.
As you could imagine, a major search and rescue operation started immediately. Helicopters, boats, the Coast Guard and local search and rescue were on the scene. This was Friday at 10am-ish. As of this morning, they still have not rescued or recovered the boy. In that neck of the woods, this is fairly big news. If you Google it, you’ll run into countless articles about it. Yet, I don’t believe its been mentioned in this area yet as everyone of importance is down there doing what they can to help. And it happened late Friday.
On Friday at 9pm, we were told they suspended the search after a day of looking. Gregg stated that thereafter, with great respect to those who continued to search, the resources remaining on the scene were not fully adequate. He needs more. He asked me to help.
After several hours of calls by myself and other close friends, we finally got through to the political powers in the State of New York. At this point, we have made contact with Senator T Morahan, Tom Kliener (who called Gregg) and Congressman Elliot Engles, who has promised to reach out to the North Carolina governor and the US Coast Guard to apply pressures and ask for more resources.
As small measure of success, I was told by Gregg that the Coast Guard re-initiated the search yesterday evening committing a helicopter to the scene and would have more resources available today. We have been told that there is a window of opportunity as it relates to the ocean currents of approximately 36 to 72 hours. We are dead smack in the middle of that critical window.
In tandem with waiting for political pressures to get things going, Nancy and I have offered a reward of $25,000 to any person that can find the boy. I know it sounds strange, but with this limited window of opportunity, we need every able person in the area helping out however possible. Surfers, skidoo owners, scuba shops, boat owners, snorkel folk. These are all groups that can get into tight places and see what needs to be seen. The opportunity to gain significant monies if successful in their search will hopefully motivate as many people as possible to get involved. We need maximum involvement. This is one way to make it happen.
So here is the help I need. We need this story in front of as many people as possible. We need TV stations, radio stations, news print. We need anyone and everyone knowing that a 12 year old boy has been swept away, and has yet to be found. We need public sentiment to demand maximum resources on the scene and more importantly, to keep resources on the scene as long as possible. We need word of the $25,000 reward to be spread so we get as many people involved as possible.
Take five minutes and share this with a few friends, or colleagues. Take a few moments and think about anyone you might know who could help spread the word… a buddy at a radio station, a friend at the newspaper, a broker who once told you how he represents some television anchorperson. Anything and everything is appreciated.
If you need anything, please do not hesitate to email me
spgoldman@trademanage.com
Sorry for the intrusion, but this critical window of opportunity is closing. Nancy and I want to simply do everything possible to help our friends who are in need. It is a parents’ absolute worst nightmare to lose a child. That is maybe only outdone by an inability to bring the child back.
This is the very least Nancy and I can do, and its really just not enough. I hope you can spare a few minutes to help us just a bit.
Thanks,
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Chance
