Missing Boater Found Alive After Treading Water for Nine Hours

(SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.) -- A search for a missing boater, which began on Tuesday evening, had a happy ending early Wednesday morning after the boater was found alive.

The search reportedly began around 7:15 p.m. after a boat -- with its engine still on -- ran aground in South Kingstown with no one in the vessel. This prompted a search by authorities in waters between Point Judith and Block Island, reports ABC affiliate WLNE-TV, until around 4 a.m. when boater Joseph Gross, 51, was found alive and without a life jacket.

Officials told WLNE-TV that the man had been treading water for about nine hours.

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