Let
this be a lesson to all the would-be pranksters out there: authorities really don’t like it when they
mount a rescue operation for nothing.
Earlier
in the week a false distress call came in for a yacht off the coast of New
Jersey, causing a massive rescue operation to go into effect. The search went on for five hours with no
evidence of people, a boat, or even debris, causing the Coast Guard to suspend the search.
But
officials aren’t just going to let it go.
They’ve put up a tip line which has received more than 50 calls in the
last week alone. They also released an
audio excerpt from the supposed yacht explosion, on which a male voice can be
heard saying, “we have 21 souls on board, 20 in the water right now. I have
three deceased on board, nine injured because of the explosion we've had. I'm
in three feet of water on the bridge. I'm going to stay by the radio as long as
I can before I have to go overboard."
If
the perpetrators are caught they could be charged with a felony, resulting in
up to 10 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine as well as possibly having to
reimburse the Coast Guard for the cost of the search.
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