HOUSTON – Crews headed back out Monday to search for a fisherman who went missing near San Leon on Friday.
Ba Van Nguyen's shrimp boat was found circling near the Houston ship channel. As the search for him continued, people who know him told Channel 2 how hazardous Nguyen's job is.
Nguyen reportedly left San Leon around 5 a.m. Friday and was expected to arrive back in port around 2 p.m. but never came back.
Search crews didn’t find anything on Saturday, but Texas Equusearch is continuing the search on Sunday near Eagle Point.
"(It's) very dangerous work," said shrimper Walter Jakubas. "All by himself all day shrimping. Normally you would have a deckhand, but with the low amount of shrimp that they catch and the prices being low, normally just the captain goes by himself."
Jakubas said the possibilities of what happened to Nguyen are endless, though he and the family are hoping for a miracle
"Hopefully he's still holding on to some structure or something," Jakubas said. "It's possible. From the location where he's reported to be missing, it's a pretty far swim in any direction."
Sunday's search for the missing man began with heavy fog, cold waters and members of Texas Equusearch heading out to a massive area of water three to four miles in size.
"This is a shoot an arrow in the sky thing and where ever it comes down, I guess that's a pretty good starting point," said Tim Miller, Texas Equusearch.
Using an ultra high-tech sonar system, Equusearch volunteers are scouring the waters near Eagle Point. They can search 300 feet with each pass.
Sunday, Randy Nguyen, Ba's son and a soldier in the United States Army, arrived at the search site hoping for a miracle.
"My goal is to find him alive. I don't think he's gone. I hope for the best, that's what I believe now," Nguyen said.
Nguyen, who just graduated from airborne school, has come all the way from Alaska to find his father.
"I wouldn't have joined the service, if not for my father," he said. "He is simply the best man. We have to find him."
"The whole point of me joining is to make him proud, but now, I don't know if he'll ever get to find that out," he said. "I'm actually having a hard time trying to find out what to do next."
Texas Equusearch will continue searching at 6 a.m. Monday. They will use the GPS from the fisherman's boat to try to re-trace his route.