Family and friends gather at Black Point in Narragansett, as Department of Environmental Management searchers look for the body of Michael Oliveira.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

NARRAGANSETT — The search in the churning waters off Black Point for 43-year-old Michael Oliveira, of Providence, a longtime Benny’s employee who disappeared Sunday after trying to save his wife, was called off last night.

A Coast Guard helicopter found the body of Tammie Oliveira, 43, around 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

But by late afternoon yesterday, officers with the Coast Guard, the Narragansett Fire Department and the state Department of Environmental Management were still looking for her husband. Last night, crews ended their search for Oliveira.

Petty Officer Connie Terrell said last night that three Coast Guard boats and a helicopter searched more than 200 square miles of ocean for about 24 hours looking for Oliviera. Rescuers also walked the coast to look for him.

Witnesses said Tammie fell in the water and Michael jumped in after her. It’s unclear if they were fishing or just watching the waves, DEM officers said.

The Oliveiras, married in Massachusetts in July, have several children from previous relationships, family members said.

The search will resume today, although it is now considered a recovery mission, said Lt. Michael Longtin, a DEM environmental police officer. Rescuers may use state police sonar to look for the body, he said.

Family members and friends gathered at the rocky outcropping before dawn. They brought coffee and doughnuts, smoked cigarettes and huddled against a damp breeze. A gun-metal sea sucked at the rocky base below, turned a shiny black by the waves.

A few times they spotted things in the water –– red and white scraps of paper, a possible credit card –– but the items were out of reach.

Frustrated, they stood and stared, trying to figure out what happened.

Michael Oliveira had just gotten a new tackle box, they said. But when a DEM officer produced a black belt, they said Oliveira never used waders and the belt wasn’t his.

The 44-acre Black Point is about a half-mile from Scarborough State Beach. A short path, the Malcolm Grant Trail, connects a parking lot on Ocean Road to a massive outcropping above the sea.

With its 3,500-foot shoreline, the area is considered one of the state’s best fishing spots. Three fishermen yesterday caught tautog from the rocks. The area also boasts bluefish, striped bass and scup.

“It’s a good fishing area. You just have to use caution,” Longtin said.

“The rocks are treacherous,” added John Gingerella, a DEM police officer.

Since 1984, there have been at least nine rescues and four deaths along the rocky coast, which can be slippery and steep. Other dangerous spots include Hazard and Newton avenues and Bass Rock Road.

In 2006, a 48-year-old Virginia man died trying to rescue an 11-year-old girl. Last year, a 43-year-old Massachusetts man died after he lost a swimming fin and tried to retrieve it in the waters off Hazard Avenue.

Relatives and friends yesterday did not want to talk about the Oliveiras, other than to say that Michael has worked for Benny’s in Smithfield for more than 20 years. A manager yesterday confirmed he worked in the company’s distribution center.

Instead, they watched silently as a gray DEM boat flashed its blue lights as it motored slowly about 50 yards from shore.

“This place must be haunted from all the people who have died here,” someone said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

pdavis@projo.com