CLEVELAND -
Loved ones of a Cleveland woman who went missing while boating in Lake Erie have now launched their own search effort.
Emma Nahas, 20, went missing Thursday evening, about two miles off the Cleveland coast.
"I just want to see her again," explains an emotional Tracy Super, Nahas' mother.
According to investigators with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft, Nahas joined friends and acquaintances on a 48-foot Sundance Sea Ray yacht for an afternoon on Lake Erie.
Investigators say around 8:00 Thursday night, Nahas and a man jumped willingly into the water. Soon after, others on the boat heard calls for help.
Officials say the man calling for help returned to the boat, but Nahas did not.
At 8:30 p.m., a call to 911 brought search crews from the Coast Guard, Rocky River Marine Patrol and ODNR. After 24 hours by air and water, the Coast Guard suspended the search.
On Sunday, the yacht remained parked at the Cleveland Coast Guard dock.
Nahas' mother believes that alcohol was involved on the night her daughter vanished.
"They were all drinking. There was a trash can full of empty beer cans, vodka bottles," she said.
Bill Staiger, with ODNR, tells Fox 8 News that while operating a boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs is prohibited by law, consuming alcohol on board a boat is not.
He also says no tests were administered at the time of the search, and no one on board the boat has been charged with operating under the influence.
On Sunday, Nahas' family posted fliers along Cleveland's lakefront, including the flats, where Super said her daughter worked as a waitress for Christie's Gentlemans Club.
Super says she fears the worst.
"I think she drowned, and one of [the other boaters], maybe used her to save their own life. I don't know how she disappears and the others don't."
Other family members agree, and say they want answers.
"We don't know what to believe anymore, we just want the truth," says Nahas' aunt, Jill Roberts. "That's our plea, is for closure and answers. We can't go on with our lives, [Emma's] mom, she needs to know what happened. She needs to know."
Nahas' family organized a candlelight vigil Sunday night at the end of the East 9th Street pier in downtown Cleveland.
The gathering was emotional, with heartsick friends and family members praying for Emma's return.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Coast Guard continue to investigate.
Emma Nahas, 20, went missing Thursday evening, about two miles off the Cleveland coast.
"I just want to see her again," explains an emotional Tracy Super, Nahas' mother.
According to investigators with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft, Nahas joined friends and acquaintances on a 48-foot Sundance Sea Ray yacht for an afternoon on Lake Erie.
Investigators say around 8:00 Thursday night, Nahas and a man jumped willingly into the water. Soon after, others on the boat heard calls for help.
Officials say the man calling for help returned to the boat, but Nahas did not.
At 8:30 p.m., a call to 911 brought search crews from the Coast Guard, Rocky River Marine Patrol and ODNR. After 24 hours by air and water, the Coast Guard suspended the search.
On Sunday, the yacht remained parked at the Cleveland Coast Guard dock.
Nahas' mother believes that alcohol was involved on the night her daughter vanished.
"They were all drinking. There was a trash can full of empty beer cans, vodka bottles," she said.
Bill Staiger, with ODNR, tells Fox 8 News that while operating a boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs is prohibited by law, consuming alcohol on board a boat is not.
He also says no tests were administered at the time of the search, and no one on board the boat has been charged with operating under the influence.
On Sunday, Nahas' family posted fliers along Cleveland's lakefront, including the flats, where Super said her daughter worked as a waitress for Christie's Gentlemans Club.
Super says she fears the worst.
"I think she drowned, and one of [the other boaters], maybe used her to save their own life. I don't know how she disappears and the others don't."
Other family members agree, and say they want answers.
"We don't know what to believe anymore, we just want the truth," says Nahas' aunt, Jill Roberts. "That's our plea, is for closure and answers. We can't go on with our lives, [Emma's] mom, she needs to know what happened. She needs to know."
Nahas' family organized a candlelight vigil Sunday night at the end of the East 9th Street pier in downtown Cleveland.
The gathering was emotional, with heartsick friends and family members praying for Emma's return.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Coast Guard continue to investigate.
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