Body Found In Search For Missing Family In Florida Waters
A multi-agency search for the remaining members of the family of four continues.
Shared from the Sarasota, FL Patch
By
Sherri Lonon (Patch Staff) - June 22, 2016 7:02 pm ET
Sarasota, FL — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Wednesday evening that a body had been recovered from the area off Sanibel where officials have been searching for a missing
Sarasota family of four. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family," said Capt. Gregory Case, commander of Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, during a press conference.
Case said the person's body was recovered around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The person has not yet been positively identified. He declined to comment on whether the person was male or female.
The search for the other three members of the Kimberly family remains very much active.
"We'll absolutely go through the night," Case said.
Ace Kimberly and his three teenage
children left Sarasota early Sunday morning to take their sailboat in for
repairs in
Fort Myers. The family hasn’t been seen since.
The U.S. Coast Guard, however, located a debris field about 37 miles west of Sanibel around 10 a.m. Wednesday. Within that debris field, the Coast Guard found a pair of shoes, a tarp, six life jackets and a basketball, among other items.
Kimberly’s brother told the Coast Guard “these items did indeed correlate to his brother’s vessel,”, said during a Wednesday morning press conference about its search for the Kimberly family.
Around 1 p.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard announced on its
Twitter account that it had found two kayaks, one green and one yellow, believed to belong to the missing family. The Coast Guard stressed that its search for the family continued.
“Finding the
kayak and life jackets signals that we are in a dire situation,” Case said Wednesday prior to the announcement of the body's discovery. “We are continuing to keep in very close contact with the family and keep them updated on all developments during this difficult time. Locating the debris inside of our search field indicates that we are in the right area, and we are aggressively searching for Ace, Becky, Donny and Roger.”
The Coast Guard reported Wednesday evening that "all available air and surface resources have been assigned to the search effort including both helicopter and fix-wing aircrews from Air Station Clearwater, Coast Guard Auxiliary and
Customs and Border Protection. Crewmembers from the Coast Guard
Cutter Alligator, Station Fort Myers Beach, and Station Cortez are actively searching, as well."
The Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Charlotte and Lee county sheriff's office are also involved in the search.
The Coast Guard began its search for Kimberly and his three
children, Rebecca, 17, Donny, 15, and Roger, 13, after receiving a call from his brother on Tuesday. The brother, who hasn’t been named by authorities, told watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg the Kimberly family left Sarasota around 7 a.m. Sunday in the 29-foot sailboat they live on.
The brother heard from Kimberly around 3 p.m. Sunday, Case said. At that time, Kimberly told his brother they had encountered rough seas and thunderstorms. He asked his brother to send him weather reports, Case said.
That was the last time the brother heard from Kimberly or his children, Case said.