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Nebert's 34-foot gillnetter on Friday called in a mayday from off the island's southern tip, and has not been seen since. Jennifer Nebert said her husband had been longlining for cod near Kake and was headed to Sitka to unload his catch.

"It is devastating," said teacher Mary McBride, who has the Nebert's son, Derick, in her kindergarten class at Riverbend Elementary School. Ericka Nebert, Derick's sister, is a year younger and attends preschool at Riverbend. "Right now we're organizing to help. (Rick Nerbert) is the family's sole provider, and she's a stay-at-home mom. There's no insurance (on the boat), no life insurance."

The Coast Guard issued a statement Monday afternoon saying Marine Safety Office staff in Juneau is investigating the disappearance of the fishing vessel Slayer, which issued a brief mayday call at 6:45 a.m. Friday while underway in Chatham Strait near Point Gardner on Admiralty Island. Rick Nebert, 42, and Matthew Young, an 18-year-old Sitka resident, were aboard.

"After three days of intense searching, the Coast Guard suspended the active search" at 7:50 p.m. Sunday, according to the agency's statement. Coast Guard and Civil Air Patrol crews logged 60 hours of flight time during the three days, it added.

The Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa and assisting private vessels searched 918 miles of shoreline and 735 miles of open water repeatedly, the statement continued. A Sitka Mountain Rescue ground-search team searched 41Ú2 miles north of where the vessel was believed to have gone down and found no sign of survivors having made it ashore.

On-scene conditions included wind speeds of 40 to 46 mph, seas swelling to 10 to 12 feet and water temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the official statement.

The harsh elements are all the more reason to continue the search, Jennifer Nebert said. She has seen her husband brave the elements, but he has made his living on a freezing fishing boat. She held up a picture of a boat covered with ice.

"He fished in freezing spray for cod for people to consume," she said.

Monday she talked to people in the offices of Gov. Frank Murkowski and U.S. Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, she said. She also knows others have been asking questions about the search being canceled.

Saturday, Jennifer Nebert flew over the area in a chartered helicopter, something she couldn't afford, she said, but the pilot only charged her for the fuel.

McBride said staffers at the school and parents of students have come together to support the Neberts. They are working to set up a bank account and are looking at a fundraiser.