Missing Firefighters: Search to focus Jacksonville to Savannah

Jacksonville, FL — Saying it’s not manpower, it’s God’s power, the wife of missing Jacksonville firefighter Brian McCluney is praying for a miracle.  Stephanie McCluney’s husband and his friend, Justin Walker, haven’t been seen since they left for a fishing trip off the space coast last Friday.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department is asking for additional volunteers to join the search, which will focus north of Jacksonville today, all the way to Savannah.

The Coast Guard admits time is working against them. The search has covered more than 69,000 square miles, with an estimated 182 hours, and hundreds of volunteers.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have been searching a wide expanse of ocean between Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville off Florida's east coast. On Monday, crews found McCluney's fishing tackle bag some 50 miles off St. Augustine.

McCluney works for the Jacksonville department while Walker is a master technician with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in Virginia, just outside the nation's capital.

McCluney's wife said Tuesday the discovery of her husband's tackle bag has given her hope that the men will be found. In a Facebook post, Stephanie McCluney added that she believed the bag was thrown overboard by the men to help those who are searching for them.