6 Missing S FL boaters
09-24-2007, 12:27 PM
#22
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Originally Posted by USCG
According to the Global Positioning System on board the vessel, the Joe Cool made several erratic movements and began heading south about halfway into their voyage.
09-24-2007, 12:56 PM
#23
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Thread Starter
This story keeps getting worse:
Joe Branam last saw Jake and Kelley Branam about noon Saturday, when they dropped off their daughter, 3, and 4-month-old son.
"Two men chartered them to take them to Bimini and to meet some girls on a mega yacht there," the elder Branam said.
Jake and Kelley Branam had plan to catch some swordfish on their return and arrive Sunday to pick up their children, he said
Joe Branam last saw Jake and Kelley Branam about noon Saturday, when they dropped off their daughter, 3, and 4-month-old son.
"Two men chartered them to take them to Bimini and to meet some girls on a mega yacht there," the elder Branam said.
Jake and Kelley Branam had plan to catch some swordfish on their return and arrive Sunday to pick up their children, he said
09-24-2007, 01:17 PM
#24
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S Sentinel..
Originally Posted by Sun Sentinel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Coast Guard finds 2 of 6 missing S. Fla. boaters
Captain and three crewmembers still lost
By Andrew Tran
Sun-Sentinel.com
1:24 PM EDT, September 24, 2007
MIAMI
U.S. Coast Guard crews have found two of six people reported missing from an abandoned fishing boat found in disarray north of Cuba -- 160 miles south of their destination in the Bahamas.
Coast Guard personnel on a cutter in the Caribbean Sea were interviewing Guillermo Zorabozo and Kirby Archer, late this morning. The two men were passengers on the boat, which left the Miami Beach Marina on Saturday, Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said Monday morning.
Rescue personnel are still searching for the boat's owner, Jake Branam, 27, and his crew. They include his wife Kelley Branam, 30, Scott Campbell and Sammy Cary, all of Miami.
Friends and family are are hopeful they will be found safe, said Joe Branam, Jake Branam's grandfather.
"Up to the moment I get that phone call, I'm going to stay optimistic," he said late Monday morning. "I get choked up every time I think about it."
Joe Branam last saw Jake and Kelley Branam about noon Saturday, when they dropped off their daughter, 3, and 4-month-old son.
"Two men chartered them to take them to Bimini and to meet some girls on a mega yacht there," the elder Branam said.
Jake and Kelley Branam had planned to catch some swordfish on their return and arrive Sunday to pick up their children, he said.
Zorabozo, 19, paid $4,000 cash to charter the 47-foot sports fisher Joe Cool for a trip to Bimini, Coast Guard officials said.
But the crew did not come back as scheduled, prompting a relative of one of the boaters to report them missing late Saturday, Judge said.
A Dolphin helicopter found Zorabozo and Archer about 10 a.m. Monday, 12 miles north of the spot where the Coast Guard found the boat. Judge said the two men were found in its missing lifeboat raft.
Branam started Sissy Baby Sport Fishing in March, according to his company's Web site at www.deepseainmiami.com. Joe Cool has a television with satellite hookup, two living areas, and has a maximum speed of 29 knots.
Authorities used an HC-130 long-range surveillance aircraft, boats and helicopters to scan the ocean. They found the sports fisher early Monday morning, abandoned, with the contents of the boat "thrown about and in complete disarray," Judge said.
The occupants and the lifeboat were gone. There did not appear to be any reason to abandon the vessel, Judge said.
"It just appears whoever was on board left in a hurry," he said.
Coast Guard personnel found the boat near Cay Sal just 20 miles north of Cuba, 100 miles south of their intended destination. That is unusual because the Gulf Stream flows north, Judge said.
"Some of the stuff isn't adding up, so it's very suspicious," he said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to find the people as soon as possible and get them to their loved ones safely."
Jake Branam has been fishing since age 5 and as a child would stay up late and hang out with fishermen along the sea wall. He comes from a line of fishermen, said Joe Branam, 75, of Miami Beach.
"I had to run him inside to bo to bed, but he'd sneak back out when I wasn't looking," his granfather said.
The elder Branam said they had talked about preparing for the worst. Jake Branam had a shotgun and pistol with him at all times, he said.
"I told him to be careful at night," Joe Branam said. "You just dont go into international waters without being protected... boats have been pirated before."
Authorities have asked that anyone with information that could help the search call the U.S. Coast Guard command center at 1-800-874-7561.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Coast Guard finds 2 of 6 missing S. Fla. boaters
Captain and three crewmembers still lost
By Andrew Tran
Sun-Sentinel.com
1:24 PM EDT, September 24, 2007
MIAMI
U.S. Coast Guard crews have found two of six people reported missing from an abandoned fishing boat found in disarray north of Cuba -- 160 miles south of their destination in the Bahamas.
Coast Guard personnel on a cutter in the Caribbean Sea were interviewing Guillermo Zorabozo and Kirby Archer, late this morning. The two men were passengers on the boat, which left the Miami Beach Marina on Saturday, Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said Monday morning.
Rescue personnel are still searching for the boat's owner, Jake Branam, 27, and his crew. They include his wife Kelley Branam, 30, Scott Campbell and Sammy Cary, all of Miami.
Friends and family are are hopeful they will be found safe, said Joe Branam, Jake Branam's grandfather.
"Up to the moment I get that phone call, I'm going to stay optimistic," he said late Monday morning. "I get choked up every time I think about it."
Joe Branam last saw Jake and Kelley Branam about noon Saturday, when they dropped off their daughter, 3, and 4-month-old son.
"Two men chartered them to take them to Bimini and to meet some girls on a mega yacht there," the elder Branam said.
Jake and Kelley Branam had planned to catch some swordfish on their return and arrive Sunday to pick up their children, he said.
Zorabozo, 19, paid $4,000 cash to charter the 47-foot sports fisher Joe Cool for a trip to Bimini, Coast Guard officials said.
But the crew did not come back as scheduled, prompting a relative of one of the boaters to report them missing late Saturday, Judge said.
A Dolphin helicopter found Zorabozo and Archer about 10 a.m. Monday, 12 miles north of the spot where the Coast Guard found the boat. Judge said the two men were found in its missing lifeboat raft.
Branam started Sissy Baby Sport Fishing in March, according to his company's Web site at www.deepseainmiami.com. Joe Cool has a television with satellite hookup, two living areas, and has a maximum speed of 29 knots.
Authorities used an HC-130 long-range surveillance aircraft, boats and helicopters to scan the ocean. They found the sports fisher early Monday morning, abandoned, with the contents of the boat "thrown about and in complete disarray," Judge said.
The occupants and the lifeboat were gone. There did not appear to be any reason to abandon the vessel, Judge said.
"It just appears whoever was on board left in a hurry," he said.
Coast Guard personnel found the boat near Cay Sal just 20 miles north of Cuba, 100 miles south of their intended destination. That is unusual because the Gulf Stream flows north, Judge said.
"Some of the stuff isn't adding up, so it's very suspicious," he said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to find the people as soon as possible and get them to their loved ones safely."
Jake Branam has been fishing since age 5 and as a child would stay up late and hang out with fishermen along the sea wall. He comes from a line of fishermen, said Joe Branam, 75, of Miami Beach.
"I had to run him inside to bo to bed, but he'd sneak back out when I wasn't looking," his granfather said.
The elder Branam said they had talked about preparing for the worst. Jake Branam had a shotgun and pistol with him at all times, he said.
"I told him to be careful at night," Joe Branam said. "You just dont go into international waters without being protected... boats have been pirated before."
Authorities have asked that anyone with information that could help the search call the U.S. Coast Guard command center at 1-800-874-7561.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
09-24-2007, 10:07 PM
#25
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The two posts below are the latest news on this. My wife and I chartered this boat in July, they took us out and are a great crew. Allison brought in a shark, and we have a picture of her with Scott and the shark. It is disturbing what has happened, we are upset. They live in the Scarface house on Star Island, with their whole family, nice young people.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/248741.html
http://cbs4.com/video/[email protected]
Lets hope they are Okay.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/248741.html
http://cbs4.com/video/[email protected]
Lets hope they are Okay.
09-25-2007, 09:25 AM
#26
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Latest update.. Interesting, maybe there is hope..
Search under way after boat crew disappears
Story Highlights
Two men chartered boat in Miami Beach on Saturday for trip to Bimini
Search began when boat didn't return on schedule Sunday
Coast Guard found empty boat, then two passengers in a life raft
No sign of boat's four-person crew; two passengers being questioned
From Susan Candiotti and Rich Phillips
CNN
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The FBI is searching for the four-person crew of a Miami Beach charter boat as part of an investigation into what a bureau spokeswoman called "a possible crime on the seas."
Relatives of the crew of the 47-foot charter fishing boat Joe Cool called authorities Sunday evening to say the vessel had not returned as scheduled after being hired Saturday afternoon.
Late Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted the boat floating 160 miles south of Bimini with no one on board, its contents in disarray and one life raft aboard.
"It looks like whoever was on board left in a hurry," Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said.
Missing are the boat's captain, Jake Branam; his wife, Kelly; and crew members Scott Campbell and Sammy Cary.
A Coast Guard helicopter spotted the boat's second life raft, containing the two men who had chartered it, about 12 miles north of the empty boat and took them to a Coast Guard cutter, where the FBI questioned them.
The men have been identified as Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo. Police said that the men chartered the boat from the Miami Beach Marina for what was described as a planned trip to Bimini.
"We're investigating this as a possible crime on the seas," FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said.
Police would not say what, if anything, the two rescued men have said.
Investigators are checking to see whether Archer is a 35-year-old fugitive with the same name who has been missing since January, when he allegedly stole more than $92,000 in cash from a Wal-Mart in Batesville, Arkansas.
"We want to go on more than a photograph," Orihuela said.
Independence County, Arkansas, Sheriff Keith Bowers said that the man wanted in his state is a manager responsible for collecting cash from store registers who allegedly hid some money in a microwave box and then walked out of the store.
"That was the last anyone's seen of him," Bowers said.
The second man being questioned is Zarabozo, a 19-year-old from Hialeah.
Miami TV station WPLG reported the men paid for the charter with $4,000 in $20 bills, saying they were construction surveyors.
"I don't think the crew ever made it to Bimini. I think the boat did. I don't think they did," the captain's uncle, Jeff Branam, told WPLG. "I'd like to think they dropped them off somewhere, but I don't know."
CNN's Cristy Lenz contributed to this report.
Story Highlights
Two men chartered boat in Miami Beach on Saturday for trip to Bimini
Search began when boat didn't return on schedule Sunday
Coast Guard found empty boat, then two passengers in a life raft
No sign of boat's four-person crew; two passengers being questioned
From Susan Candiotti and Rich Phillips
CNN
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The FBI is searching for the four-person crew of a Miami Beach charter boat as part of an investigation into what a bureau spokeswoman called "a possible crime on the seas."
Relatives of the crew of the 47-foot charter fishing boat Joe Cool called authorities Sunday evening to say the vessel had not returned as scheduled after being hired Saturday afternoon.
Late Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted the boat floating 160 miles south of Bimini with no one on board, its contents in disarray and one life raft aboard.
"It looks like whoever was on board left in a hurry," Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said.
Missing are the boat's captain, Jake Branam; his wife, Kelly; and crew members Scott Campbell and Sammy Cary.
A Coast Guard helicopter spotted the boat's second life raft, containing the two men who had chartered it, about 12 miles north of the empty boat and took them to a Coast Guard cutter, where the FBI questioned them.
The men have been identified as Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo. Police said that the men chartered the boat from the Miami Beach Marina for what was described as a planned trip to Bimini.
"We're investigating this as a possible crime on the seas," FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said.
Police would not say what, if anything, the two rescued men have said.
Investigators are checking to see whether Archer is a 35-year-old fugitive with the same name who has been missing since January, when he allegedly stole more than $92,000 in cash from a Wal-Mart in Batesville, Arkansas.
"We want to go on more than a photograph," Orihuela said.
Independence County, Arkansas, Sheriff Keith Bowers said that the man wanted in his state is a manager responsible for collecting cash from store registers who allegedly hid some money in a microwave box and then walked out of the store.
"That was the last anyone's seen of him," Bowers said.
The second man being questioned is Zarabozo, a 19-year-old from Hialeah.
Miami TV station WPLG reported the men paid for the charter with $4,000 in $20 bills, saying they were construction surveyors.
"I don't think the crew ever made it to Bimini. I think the boat did. I don't think they did," the captain's uncle, Jeff Branam, told WPLG. "I'd like to think they dropped them off somewhere, but I don't know."
CNN's Cristy Lenz contributed to this report.
09-25-2007, 03:36 PM
#28
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What a shame.
Smuggling has "stepped up" a few notches over the last few months.
All of the banks I work with sent out mandates the last few months that they WILL NOT finance Laser, Carerra, Renegade or Avanti powerboats new or used. PERIOD.
Why? All of those boats have been seized by USCG & Homeland Security over the last few months.
There was also a band new Donzi 32' CC sold in South Florida that got popped a week later (still on the trailer in Miami) by USCG when they busted another ring of smugglers.
I would have hoped the Captain would have been more cautious when a 19yr old latin kid pays $4,000 cash and wants to go "fishing".
Thats kind of like someone who looks like Osama Binladen comes in and wants to learn how to fly airplanes and wants to focus on take offs and not worried about landings.
I know Catmando and all of the liberals will start screaming but profiling works.
Smuggling has "stepped up" a few notches over the last few months.
All of the banks I work with sent out mandates the last few months that they WILL NOT finance Laser, Carerra, Renegade or Avanti powerboats new or used. PERIOD.
Why? All of those boats have been seized by USCG & Homeland Security over the last few months.
There was also a band new Donzi 32' CC sold in South Florida that got popped a week later (still on the trailer in Miami) by USCG when they busted another ring of smugglers.
I would have hoped the Captain would have been more cautious when a 19yr old latin kid pays $4,000 cash and wants to go "fishing".
Thats kind of like someone who looks like Osama Binladen comes in and wants to learn how to fly airplanes and wants to focus on take offs and not worried about landings.
I know Catmando and all of the liberals will start screaming but profiling works.
09-25-2007, 05:28 PM
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just heard on local radio that they believe that the crew was tossed overboard, but archer and bozo( were heading to cuba according to the gps) were to stupid to operate the boat,we need to bring back public hangings,i am f**King sick over this .
