The U.S. Coast Guard is searching this weekend for the person who radioed several distress calls reporting that vessels were sinking after the transmissions were determined to be pranks, according to a Local 6 News report.

Officials with the Coast Guard said they have received three distress calls since Thursday about boats sinking, including a call Saturday.

After an investigation, it was determined that the prank calls were made from the same person. Investigators have also narrowed the search to a radio located between St. Augustine and New Smyrna.

Local 6 aired audio of one of the calls; "Coast Guard, this is a distress," the caller is heard saying. "Mayday, mayday. Stand by for long (longitude) and lat (latitude)."

"Roger that," the Coast Guard responds.

"Mayday, mayday, we are going down," the caller said.

After the call, Coast Guard and Navy crews spent eight hours searching for the vessel with jets, helicopters and boats at the cost of $60,000, according to the report.

The person responsible for the hoax calls could face up to 10 years in prison.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.