A fisherman and TV star has sadly passed away after his boat sank off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Gus Sanfilippo passed away after his boat, the Lily Jean, sank at the end of January.
On January 30, via a USCG news release, the Coast Guard responded to an emergency position-indicating radio beacon. Sadly, the vessel went down before the Coast Guard could get a response. Seven people had been on board the vessel. So far, recovery crews found one unresponsive body and an unoccupied life raft from the ship.
Captain Sebastian Noto, a friend of Lily Jean's captain, told NBC10 Boston that he had spoken to the TV star just hours before. He and Sanfilippo had worked together in the past. The two spoke at 3 a.m. together. He heard him say, "I quit. It's too cold."
TV Star Dies After Boat Sinks
"I was about 30 miles east of him," he told the outlet. "We usually work together all the time. We are like glue, man. We give a lot of information back and forth. He was calm. He just couldn't do the cold because the air holes was freezing."
Noto said that a bilge pump malfunction could have potentially sunk the ship.
"Just a guess, I could be wrong you know because even if the bilge is taking water, you got plenty of time to call Mayday," he noted. "You got plenty of time to get into the survival suit, life raft. The boat takes time to sink."
Six people remain missing. But the USCG announced they were ending search and recovery efforts for the TV star and his crew.
"The decision to suspend the search was incredibly difficult," Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston, wrote in a press release. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lilly Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time."
