Thesearch for two boaters missingoff the coast of Naples, Florida, has been suspended after amassive four-day search operation.
The U.S. Coast Guard halted its search for Fort Myers attorneyRandall Spivey, 57, and his nephew Brandon Billmaier, 33, at sunset on Monday, Dec. 22.
The relatives disappeared on Dec. 19, and the search spanned nearly 6,700 square miles of sea, officials reported.
"After the utmost consideration and careful review of all factors involved in this case, the Coast Guard made the difficult decision to suspend its active search efforts," Capt. Corrie Sergent, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, said.
"There is no harder decision than suspending a search. I am incredibly grateful for the crews, partners, and volunteers across this community who executed this massive search with the utmost professionalism, persistence, and compassion. We offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of Mr. Spivey and Mr. Billmaier during this extremely difficult time."
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Brandon Billmaier and Randy Spivey remain missing
Volunteers from across the Southeast United States joined the search for the men who vanished during a fishing trip about 70 miles off the Naples coast earlier this month.
"While this is heartbreaking, Brandon and Randy would never want anyone else to put their life in danger, and we know they would want this decision to be respected," Deborah Billmaier, wife of Brandon Billmaier, wrote in a Facebook post.
The FBI is leading the missing persons investigation.
Spivey and Billmaier went on a fishing trip about 102 miles off the coast of Naples in southwest Florida, Tricia Spivey, Randall Spivey's wife, said. When they failed to return, family contacted the Coast Guard.
The men were in a 42-foot Freeman boat named "Unstopp-A-Bull," said Luis Garcia, supervisor on watch for the Coast Guard sector in St. Petersburg.
Using GPS coordinates from the boat's spot tracker, the Coast Guard later found the boat floating upright in the Gulf about 70 miles off the coast of Naples near Marco Island and Flamingo, Tricia Spivey said, but there were no signs of the missing boaters.
There were two life jackets missing from the boat, which made family members think Spivey and Billmaier could be wearing them.
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Boat found adrift
According to the USCG, a Coast Guard helicopter crew found the vessel, a Freeman Boatworks 42LR named "Unstopp-A-Bull," adrift, still in gear, roughly 70 miles west of Fort Myers at approximately 12 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 20.
GPS coordinates from the boat's spot tracker led them to that location near Marco Island and Flamingo, Spivey's wife said.
A rescue swimmer was lowered, stopped the engines, and anchored the vessel for safety.
"The boat was in gear," said Riley Perkofski, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast District, "We deployed a swimmer, and then the swimmer deployed the vessel's anchor so that it wouldn't keep moving."
Search area for missing Florida boaters was vast
On Monday Dec. 22, searchers had focused on a 20-mile-wide area about 100 miles off the coast of Naples, according to a statement from the Spivey/Billmaier family.
TheCoast Guard saidcrews searched by air and sea before halting search operations, pending the development of new information.
"As a family, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for the resources and volunteers who have stepped up to help," the statement reads. "The amount of support, time, and effort being given means more to us than we can put into words."
Who is Randy Spivey?
Tricia Spivey said her husband — a prominent Fort Myers attorney — is well-regarded and well-liked.
"He's dedicated his life to helping other people as an attorney and helping them in their time of need," his wife said, adding he and his nephew are avid fishermen. "That's why it's so touching that many people are now stepping up to find him."
In a Dec. 22 statement, the Spivey/Billmaier family described Spivey as "an incredible, devoted, and loved husband and father."
"He would do anything for his family," the statement says. "He has also dedicated his 30 years as an attorney in Southwest Florida to helping those who are injured. We are so grateful to all of our community for now helping us to bring him home!"
Who is Brandon Billmaier?
Billmaierhad recently gotten married, the statement said.
"Brandon is also an attorney who followed in his uncle's footsteps to help people injured in Florida," it said. "He is newly married, and we all need both Brandon and Randy brought home because we love them so deeply!"
The Shiner Law Groupissued a statementon Dec. 22 on the disappearance of Billmaier, aBoca Raton-based attorneyand associate with the firm since August 2023.
"This situation has been surreal; we continue to pray and hold onto hope for the safe return of Brandon and Randy as search efforts remain underway. We respectfully ask that the public keep Brandon Billmaier and Randy Spivey in their thoughts and prayers."
The Lee County Sheriffi's Office described Spivey as a white male, 6'1", 245lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing khaki pants and a dark in color shirt, according to Lee County Sheriff's Office. Billmaier is a white male, 6'2", 250lbs, with strawberry hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Coast Guard's St. Petersburg sector at 866-881-1392.
Contributing: Tom Elia, Palm Beach Post
This article originally appeared on USATNetwork:Search suspended for missing Florida boaters update.