The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday said it was suspending the search off the coast of Massachusetts for a missing crew of the fishing boat Lily Jean.
The military branch received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon signal on Friday morning and started searching. It found debris, a dead person and the 72-foot vessel’s unoccupied life raft at the position where the signal originated, but did not see any of the other six crew members.
The Coast Guardsmen searched 1,047 square miles by sea and air over the ensuing 24 hours before calling off the search.
The boat was sailing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles northeast of Boston.
“Other than being on the boat, which is missing, I haven’t got any information. He was my brother. He’s been fishing since he was in high school,” Richard Beal, 70, told the Gloucester Daily Times.
Another person aboard the boat was a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observer, according to the newspaper.
Massachusetts State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Republican whose district includes Gloucester, said Friday, “Every day, men and women leave ports like Gloucester to harvest the bounty of the ocean for the people of our state and our nation, carrying with them the very real risk of not returning home. The sinking of the [fishing vessel] Lily Jean makes the consequences of that risk painfully real. … We are praying for those aboard the vessel and their families who are enduring the anguish of not knowing the fate of their loved ones.”
The Lily Jean and Capt. Gus Sanfilippo, who might be among those lost, were previously known for appearing on the 2012 History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.”
Mr. Tarr, a friend of Mr. Sanfilippo, told The Associated Press, “He’s a person that has a big smile, and he gives you a warm embrace when he sees you. He is very, very skilled at what he does.”
Gloucester Mayor Paul Lundberg said Friday that “fishing is the heart and soul of Gloucester. Every day fishermen risk their lives facing treacherous conditions to provide for their families in order to feed our collective family. … This is a tragedy we have experienced before, and one we will never get used to. … We will come together united in continued support of those reeling from the loss of this fishing vessel.”
