More clues but no answers in case of missing anglers

Up to news time tonight, there was still no sign of the seven friends who went out fishing on Sunday from Belize City and never returned. Family members will be meeting for a prayer service at seven tonight and they are appealing to members of the public to donate any available assistance towards the efforts to find their loved ones. News Five’s Janelle Chanona has the latest.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Three days into the search and rescue mission there is still no sign of the seven missing fishermen. The effort to find them now includes more than thirty boats, private as well as B.D.F. and BATSUB aerial support and a number of jet skis and smaller vessels.

This morning, News Five cameraman Chris Mangar accompanied members of the Coast Guard as they endured rough seas in the search area.

Lt. Elton Bennett, Belize Coast Guard Operations Officer
“What we are doing now is to come out in the channel using our vessel as a reference, shutting down our engine and to see the drift that occurred during that day. The weather condition that we are experiencing now is a little bit better that what the vessel experienced on Sunday. Today we experiencing somewhere between eighteen and twenty knots, on Sunday it was somewhere between twenty and twenty-five knots.”

Winds that would have produced waves more than eight feet in height. This morning family members went to the spot where the boat was found near Gallows Point.

Audrey Matura Shepherd, Family Spokesperson
“So that we could come to terms with what it is they are facing out there and the conditions under which they are working so that we can realistically see their efforts and know what our expectations should be.”

The last known sighting of the Ocean Hopper was outside the reef near St. George’s Caye heading in a northerly direction. As family members continued to hold vigil at Avis headquarters in Ladyville, the growing consensus tonight is that the men were the victims of an accident.

Audrey Matura Shepherd
“It could not have been foul play because it seems as though they may have hit a rock, hit a reef or something like that and as result of that the engine was ripped off because you could actually see the board where the piece that would have been holding it ripped off. And then the other portion is where there is a bolt and that bolt didn’t rip off but obviously maybe part of the engine broke so that could release from the boat. So it would seem as though maybe they went on reef, went on something, hit something and that’s how they had the problem. The canopy unlike what we were being told that was missing, pieces of the canvas are missing but the actual canopy structure and little pieces of the canvas is still stuck on it so it’s not as though someone took off the canopy. When we saw the ignition the key was still in the ignition so if from all indications, if we are right, it was an accident that they encountered.”

Rescuers are now searching with the assumption that the men are possibly injured. And while donations of fuel and other resources have been pouring in, Shepherd says the families are asking for everyone’s assistance.

Audrey Matura Shepherd
“We are asking members of the public, don’t be unkind; don’t call us with bad news or even good news that are false. If you know anything and you believe that you have the right information, someone was found dead, alive, whatever, call the authorities, let them cannel it to us because that’s really disheartening. Apart from that I’ve been working with all the family members and I must say that are very strong and they are very optimistic. I think what keeps us going is that you see here how we are very busy, there is not a dull moment for us to sit down and linger and cry. We just know that we have something to do and we occupy every waking moment planning something.”

The Belize Defence Force has been planning the ground search on the cayes in the primary area.

Lt. Colonel Ruel Black, Chief of Staff, Belize Defence Force
“This is Gallows Point and this is where we were told by the Coast Guard of where they expect incident had happened. Along here around this area here which is just a few miles down is where the boat was found and they have also found some other bits or pieces like life jackets and so in this general vicinity. Because it happened so close to Gallows Point we in the B.D.F. who are really infantry suspect that they could have probably made it on to shore and we have now increased the amount of soldiers searching the shoreline.”

According to Black, tonight there are forty troops patrolling the more than eight miles of mangrove swamp on the various cayes in the area. This evening, a command and medical aid post was set up at the northern tip of Shag Bluff.

Janelle Chanona
“Your troops, what are they carrying in the event that they come across these man?”

Colonel Ruel Black
“Well each patrol is carrying one extra meal, for one, so that if they meet them at least…they consist of seven soldiers so at least they would have seven meals to give each one of them. They also have on their person their own personal clothing so if they meet them they can also dress them so that they can keep warm. And they also have a medic with them, that’s the seventh person, so that they can render immediate first aid out there. Also because we the first aid post just close by they will give immediate first aid and then they can take them to the main first aid post so that they could be extracted thereafter.”

But the question on everyone’s mind tonight, are they alive?

Colonel Ruel Black
“The things that would be most damaging to them right now is dehydration because even if they drink the salt water it will dehydrate them some more and hypothermia, those are that the two things that we are worried about right now. The hypertension according to the doctor is not really a problem if they keep calm. The heart patient, yes, we have some concerns about him because that pressure could also affect his heart. The others we didn’t hear that they have any problems so really survival out there is difficult for somebody who is untrained but not impossible.”

Dillon Jones, Search Crew
“Nothing so far, it’s just disheartening but we’re gonna remain optimistic, we’re gonna do what we got to do until such time as friends.”

Audrey Matura Shepherd
“We have to remain optimistic despite going out there because we were told by people who are involved in search and rescue for years and who have had personal experiences themselves that people could still survive up to five days even a week out in the waters, dehydrated maybe, weak and everything but people still survive out there so we are just hoping and praying that their will to survive supersedes all and they are hanging out there and we are out there doing our best to search for them.”

Lt. Elton Bennett
“We are looking for survivors. We still believe that there is a chance of finding life at sea. We’ve had experience where we’ve found life at sea four, five days after people have drifted outside the reef. We still believe that there is a chance of finding life somewhere in this area.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.

Investigations by police of the Ocean Hopper also led to the recovery of cell phones and wallets belonging to the missing men. Following tonight’s prayer service, search crews will meet at Avis Auto Rentals in Ladyville to plan strategy for tomorrow. According to the Coast Guard, divers will be sent out tomorrow to search the waters between Gallows Point and English Caye, but the search above water will continue to include areas as far east as Turneffe. If you would like to donate towards the rescue mission, monies can be deposited at Atlantic Bank account number 210-832-802.