On Wednesday, officials in Gloucester, Massachusetts, said they are still working to locate the wreck of the fishing boat Lily Jean, which sank off Cape Ann during late January and killed all seven people aboard. The effort, involving multiple agencies, has turned to deep-sea tools as investigators try to answer questions that have lingered for families still grieving the loss.
Authorities said the 72-foot (22-meter) vessel was returning to port early Jan. 30 to repair fishing gear when it sank in frigid Atlantic waters near Gloucester. They said the search for the wreck is focused on the possibility of recovering bodies and supporting the investigation, but winter weather and sea conditions have slowed progress.
Officials said the Lily Jean went down in waters more than 300 feet deep, described as very inhospitable during winter. The Massachusetts Environmental Police deployed side-scan sonar, a method that uses sound waves to scan the seafloor for features and potential anomalies, they said.
Environmental police officials said they also hope to send a remotely operated vehicle to the site to gather photos and video. They said seas have made it challenging to operate the equipment as planned.
The Coast Guard’s response began with a search and rescue effort after receiving an alert from the vessel about 25 miles (40 kilometers) off Cape Ann, officials said. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert was sent and recovered a body in the water along with an empty life raft, the Coast Guard said. Authorities suspended the search the following day, and the community then rallied around the families of the victims.
Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Republican from Gloucester, said authorities will provide updates to the community as the search continues. Tarr described the hardest part of the aftermath as not knowing what happened at sea, saying, “One of the most haunting things about grief or loss at sea is the not knowing,” and adding, “Answering those questions requires a tremendous amount of effort.”
Authorities identified the victims as captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo and crew members Paul Beal Sr., Paul Beal Jr., John Rousanidis, Freeman Short and Sean Therrien. They also said Jada Samitt, a fisheries observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was aboard the Lily Jean.
During Wednesday’s news conference, Ricky Beal, the brother of Paul Beal Sr., said he is hopeful the investigation will help the families in the community understand what happened. Beal urged people who are following the case not to spread false information, saying, “As of now, hopefully in the future, the investigation will give us some light on what happened. But as of now, only God knows what happened that fateful morning.”
Gloucester, often described as America’s oldest seaport, is known for its close-knit fishing community. The boat and crew had also appeared in a 2012 episode of the History Channel’s “Nor’Easter Men,” in which the captain is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman from Gloucester and the crew is shown working dangerous weather for extended periods offshore.