The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search Saturday morning for the six missing crewmembers of the fishing vessel Lily Jean that sank off the coast of Gloucester after one body was recovered a day earlier.
Crews searched continuously for more than 24 hours after the 72-foot boat’s emergency beacon activated 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann Friday at about 6:50 a.m.
Seven people on board Lily Jean when it sank
During the search, Coast Guard air and surface crews located a debris field in the area and one body in the water. Seven people were reported to be on the vessel at the time. The Coast Guard said the missing include five crewmembers of the Lily Jean and a NOAA observer.
Crews also recovered an unoccupied life raft and other debris that would come off the boat as it would sink, the Coast Guard said.
At a press conference on Saturday afternoon, state Sen. Bruce Tarr said the life raft and emergency beacon are designed to be activated “without human intervention.”
“The decision to suspend the search was incredibly difficult,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lily Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time.”
The cause of the incident is under investigation, but the Coast Guard’s Timothy Jones said the boat was “coming back in full of fish” and may have had an equipment issue.
The Coast Guard said crews conducted coordinated search patterns that covered approximately 1,047 square miles using multiple aircraft, cutters and small boats. Search and rescue mission coordinators and commanders determined that “all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted.”
The names of those on board the Lily Jean will be released in the coming days, the Coast Guard said. Tarr said the captain is well known and one of the “kindest, nicest individuals on the face of this earth.”
Ricky Beal told WBZ-TV that his brother Paul Beal and nephew Paul Jr. were on board the vessel. On Sunday, family members confirmed that Jada Samitt and Sean Therrien were also on the boat.
Tragedy for fishing community
Gloucester Mayor Paul Lundberg said the sinking of the Lily Jean is a tragedy the community has experienced before, but one it will never get used to.
“Fishing is the heart and soul of Gloucester,” Lundberg said in a statement. “Every day fishermen risk their lives facing treacherous conditions to provide for their families in order to feed our collective family. We consider everyone who fishes from this port our family and that’s what makes times like this trying.”
Mayor Lundberg said the names of those lost on the Lily Jean will be added to the city’s Fisherman’s Memorial.
“We join as a state in expressing our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of those aboard the vessel,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said. “We join with the families; the fishing community, the city of Gloucester and I know people up and the down the East Coast of the United States who have reached out in mourning this day and in grieving seven brave individuals who were out there doing their job.”
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