In a 7:30 p.m. call, the Galveston Police Department reported the 25-year-old man had jumped into in the water east of San Luis Pass while trying to save his 3-year-old daughter, according to a statement by the command center of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston. The girl was later saved by officers from the Galveston Island Beach Patrol.

The Coast Guard searched an area of 68 square miles over a combined period of 20 hours before the search for the missing father was suspended at 7:25 p.m. on Monday, around 24 hours after he was reported missing.

During the search, members of Sector Houston-Galveston launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Houston and a 45-foot medium response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Freeport, the statement said.

Multiple other government agencies also joined the search for the 25-year-old. Among them were the crew of Coast Guard cutter Haw, the sector said.

“Considering the extensive efforts of Coast Guard crews and our numerous state and local agency partners, we determined it was time to suspend our search for the missing individual,” Cmdr. Michael Cortese, search and rescue mission coordinator for Sector Houston-Galveston, said in a statement.

“This is an absolutely heartbreaking situation, and our thoughts are with this man’s loved ones during this painful time,” Cortese said.

Galveston Island Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis said his units received a report of a young girl in distress at the San Luis Pass around 7 p.m. on Sunday, according to Galveston County’s Daily News. The girl was on a float that had been swept out to sea during strong winds, KTRK reported. Lifeguards on jet skis rescued the child from a sandbar.

It was only after the girl had been saved that her other family members said the father was also missing, having jumped in the water to try and save her. Officials told KHOU that the dad “went underwater in a deep trough.”

“The Survivor Support Network, a volunteer crisis intervention team, met with the family and is providing support,” Davis said. “Our hearts go out to the family and we hope for a quick recovery to help with closure.”

“The public is reminded not to swim at either end of the island because of dangerous tidal currents and uneven bottom contours,” he said.