JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search for three missing boaters who capsized Friday night.

Eight people were on board a boat that flipped near Goat Island in the St. Johns River.

The search is suspended for now, but it wasn’t just law enforcement on the water Saturday. They had a little support from some folks who felt compelled to help.

“I said, we already have our boat on the water and we live out here, so let’s just go put eyes on the water,” said Mendy Nancarrow, who lives near where the boaters disappeared. 

Nancarrow says her husband brought their boat in from the St. Johns River just before the news came out about the flipped boat.

“We’re a family that is on our boat and on the water,” said Nancarrow. “I know if it happened to us, I’d want to know people were out there searching for us.”

Nancarrow says they searched all day, going through Mill Cove, under the Dames Point and around to the marine terminal.

“Found a little bit of debris in the water, nothing significant, but then did come across a man’s Tommy Hilfiger, navy blue flip-flop,” said Nancarrow. “I understand it could be anyone’s off any boat, but it was in the search area.”

First Coast News passed the photo of the flip-flop along to the Coast Guard in case it could help the investigation.

The Coast Guard searched for 17 hours, covering 270 square miles before suspending the search, saying in a statement “Suspending search efforts is an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking decision, made only after an exhaustive and thorough search.”

“This has really broke our hearts,” said Nancarrow.

A spokesperson with the Coast Guard told me there are no plans for them to start searching again in the daylight.

Instead, they’ll wait for new information to develop.