The Coast Guard received a distress call from a 6-year-old girl who identified herself as "Kelsey" at 6:13 p.m. Tuesday and said someone she was with, possibly named "Kelly" - was "in the water" and was "not waking up." (Listen to the radio call.)

The segment of the call released by the Coast Guard was part of a 7-minute conversation with the girl, officials said. Not much more was said during the remainder of the call, officials said.

" They asked her what school she went to. She said she's schooled at home, basically that's all the information we were able to get out of her other than repeating that she was on the water and that her aunt, Kelly, was sleep," said Lt. Ron Owens.

The Coast Guard said late Wednesday morning that they suspended the search because of the hundreds of boaters who have been out in the area of the search, the Coast Guard has not heard definitively from any of them that they saw a boat or that they had any type of indication that a girl was in trouble alone in a boat.

Originally, the Coast Guard said they didn't believe the call was a hoax and are still ready to resume the search if more information becomes available.

"It very well could be (a hoax), but our policy is to treat all cases as potential or actual distress. And we have to prosecute each case to the fullest until we receive amplifying information that suggest otherwise," said Owens. "Unfortunately, children get a hold of their parents marine radio and start broadcasting unbeknownst to their parents, and cause a lot of work for the men and women of the Coast Guard."

The call came in on VHF Channel 16, which is the channel typically used for boaters to contact the Coast Guard if they are in trouble. The girl didn't say where she was located, but the signal originated in South Puget Sound area, and search efforts were focused around Fox Island just south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

The Coast Guard recently implemented a new radio direction-finding system known as Rescue 21 that allows locations of radio calls to be triangulated, but the call from the young girl was only picked up on one receiver, so an exact location could not be determined.

The Coast Guard searched the area by boat and by air, but did not find anyone believed to be Kelsey.

Additional aircraft were brought in Wednesday morning to assist with the search, but the Coast Guard called off the search after confirming no boaters had been reported missing.

Anyone who heard the girl on the radio or can provide additional information is urged to contact the Coast Guard Sector Seattle (206) 217-6001.

The penalties for a hoax call includes the reimbursement of all the costs of the search and a $250,000 fine.