4 more bodies found; search to be halted for 34 still missing from capsized boat off Florida

John Bacon, Claire Thornton and Will Greenlee, USA TODAY
·2 min read

STUART, Fla. – Four more bodies were found after a suspected human smuggling boat capsized off the Florida coast five days ago, leaving 34 people missing in the vast waters of the Atlantic, authorities said Thursday.

Coast Guard teams have now found five bodies since they began searching a swath of ocean the size of Massachusetts after the lone known survivor was plucked from atop the hull of the overturned boat Tuesday by crew members aboard a passing tow boat. One body was found Wednesday.

"I have made the very difficult decision ... that at sunset this evening we will suspend active searching," Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian said Thursday.

The survivor, who was hospitalized for treatment of dehydration and sun exposure, told authorities the boat sailed from Bimini in the Bahamas on Saturday with 40 people aboard and no life jackets. The boat soon encountered rough seas.

"We've saturated the area over and over again," Burdian said. "We've had good visibility. ... It does mean that we don't think it's likely that anyone else has survived."

High-risk human trafficking is an almost daily occurrence in the region. The same day a lone survivor was plucked from the overturned boat, the Coast Guard intercepted 191 Haitians aboard an overloaded sail freighter about 40 miles southwest of Great Inagua, Bahamas.

"The Coast Guard maintains a persistent presence patrolling the waters around Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas to help prevent loss of life on the high seas," said Lt. David Steele, Coast Guard liaison officer, U.S. Embassy Haiti. "These grossly overloaded vessels operate without proper safety equipment and are not built for these hazardous voyages.”

BODY FOUND: 'Dire' search continues for 38 people from capsized boat off Florida

This handout image, provided by the US Coast Guard on January 25, 2022, shows a capsized vessel approximately 45 miles east of Fort Pierce inlet, Florida.
This handout image, provided by the US Coast Guard on January 25, 2022, shows a capsized vessel approximately 45 miles east of Fort Pierce inlet, Florida.

The tow boat that found the wreck, the Signet Intruder, was returning to Jacksonville, Florida, on its way from Puerto Rico when the crew spotted something drifting in the water, fleet operations manager Joshua Nelson said.

After they helped the survivor board their boat and gave him liquids, they "realized the gravity of the situation."

The Signet Intruder's normal route would have missed the capsized boat by about 10 miles. But earlier they made an unplanned turn in the water to "give way" to another vessel, making the discovery possible, Nelson told USA TODAY.

“If they had not made that turn, they would have never come across him," he said. "It was luck of chance.”

Authorities have not revealed the identity or nationality of the survivor, nor the nationalities of the would-be immigrants. Homeland Security officers have interviewed the survivor, said Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge.

"We've viewing him as a victim," Salisbury said Thursday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hope fades after Florida boat capsized; search halted for 34 missing