UPDATE: According to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, the boat was found. CCSO says it was located in Lee County, tied to a public boat ramp dock. The engines were intact and there is no word on who tied it up.
A family on the south side of Manasota Key is searching for answers after their $350,000 boat that was on mangroves due to the winds of Hurricane Milton went missing on Friday night.
"When you're down for somebody to kind of, you know, punch you in the gut and do something like this, it's almost a violation of privacy, you know, because of everything that we've already lost," said Peter and Carol Hagaman.
Peter and Carol Hagaman have been taking it day by day, trying to put their lives back together after Milton left a lot of damage on Manasota Key, but there's a big piece that's missing.
"We're down about four streets down on the corner by Mockingbird, and from Mockingbird, you can see the boat directly across, and we are watching to see if Towboat U.S. was going to come and, you know, get it," said Peter Hagaman.
After Milton, they knew their boat washed onto the mangroves just a few miles away from their home. They would check on it daily to make sure it was still there while they waited for a tow to come get it, but the last time they went to see it, it was missing.
"The last few days, we had noticed that the mangroves were being cut, as we observed, and then the boat was kind of on an angle, you know, there was a gas tank there on top of a kayak, and all those things were not in the picture in the beginning," said Carol Hagaman.
This isn't your typical boat either. The engine is wrapped in American flags and it is decorated in bright colors, but more importantly, it's where Peter and Carol Hagaman made a lot of memories.
"The boat was called American Flier, because I'm a retired pilot with American Airlines, and you know, the engines kind of represented the tail on my airplane," said Peter Hagaman.
Now, the Hagamans will be doing whatever it takes to get their flier back, hoping to make even more memories on their beloved boat.
"It's pretty hard to hide the boat, but you know, (a) trash bag over the engines would, you know, cover it up," said Peter Hagaman. "It's a nice boat, a lot of good times on it, hopefully we will get her back."
If you have any information on the missing boat, contact the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.