Click the play button on the video window to the see the storyTAMPA -- The Phoenix father of a man missing in a boating accident last Saturday says the family has called off the search for his son.
Bruce Cooper, father of Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis, said Friday that the family talked with authorities who had talked to Nick and they believe that what he said is true.
They are now calling off volunteers and not asking for anyone else to search.
Bruce Cooper is a sports anchor on Channel 12.
The family said they are not going to have a memorial service -- it is too hard. They are now working on packing up Cooper's belongings.
Cooper went to Gilbert's Highland High School.
Also missing is free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley.
All three have been missing since Saturday evening.
A prayer service for Cooper was held Tuesday night in Mesa at Central Christian Church near Lindsay Road and Adobe Street.
Cooper's grandfather, Joe Davis, said Cooper was not a quitter.
"He knows the love is out there for him and I believe he'll try to survive," said Davis.
While he remains hopeful his grandson and the other two missing boaters will be found, Davis said he knows the odds are not good.
Still, he relies on his faith.
"It's out of our hands. It's not in our hands now. We just feel everything will be OK even if the worst [happens] but we know who he belongs to," said Davis.
James Livingston, Cooper's cousin, spoke with ABC15 on Wednesday.
See the interview with James Livingston"We're extremely confident that if there are any survivors on the surface of the water that we would have found them," Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said.
Missing boaters' friends and families launch their own search Make a donation to help the search
Hopes were raised Monday when rescue crews found a fourth man who was aboard, 24-year-old former South Florida player Nick Schuyler, who managed to stay with the boat for more than 36 hours after it overturned Saturday evening.
Prospects for survival were beginning to look more grim throughout the day, with the father of one of the men saying the Coast Guard told him privately that officials were losing hope because of the time that has passed and the possibility the men would be suffering from hypothermia.
Close said searchers found a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat.
Schuyler told rescuers the boat flipped as they were pulling up the anchor in the evening, Close said. None were wearing life vests at the time, but they managed to swim under the boat, grab the vests and put them on, he said.
Close said the men were able to stay together for a while, but somehow got separated. Schuyler was found about 35 miles off Clearwater -- a lengthy jag for Cooper's 21-foot Everglades.
Nick Schuyler's father, Stuart, spoke with ABC15 on Tuesday morning.
“Nick is doing fine,” said Stuart. “He was severely dehydrated. He was quite delirious when we first talked to him when we first got to the hospital. We stayed most of the night and he will recover.”
Speaking of the ordeal Stuart said, “They actually got knocked off the boat. I guess the boat flipped in the rough water Saturday, late Saturday afternoon, when they were trying to head back in.
“They were all holding on to each other,” said Stuart. “They were all taking turns getting on the boat getting off the boat. They could see the rescue operation the first night. They couldn’t be spotted. He thinks they drifted away after 4 or 5 hours. It was hard to keep track of time out there they were out there for so long.”
Stuart also said the men were drifting in and out of consciousness. “It was just a horrible experience.”
When asked how Nick was able to hang on to the boat Stuart said, “He actually had his legs straddled around the underneath side of the boat and his legs are all cut up from the rough water.
Nick's mother, Marsha Schuyler, said her son told her he survived by thinking about how he didn't want her to go to his funeral.
The family's joy at him being found alive was tempered by the search for his friends.
“He kept breaking down crying, worrying about his other friends out there,” said Stuart.
"We still have three men missing, and we're not going to talk too much until we find these guys," said his father, Stuart Schuyler. "We're all praying for them. These guys are all very close friends."
See the interview with Stuart Schuyler
