FORT MYERS, Fla. (WFLA) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday evening that it has officially suspended the search for two boaters who went missing after departing on a fishing trip from Fort Myers last week and never returned.
According to the Coast Guard, search crews covered approximately 6,700 square miles, based on the boaters’ last known location.
Randall Spivey, 57, and his nephew, Brandon Billmaier, 33, left from a residential dock early Friday morning and were expected to return later that afternoon.
When the men failed to come home by Friday night, Billmaier’s wife, Deborah Billmaier, contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, she wrote in a Facebook post.
Several hours later, their 42-foot boat was found about 70 miles offshore. The vessel was still in gear, but neither man was on board.
By Saturday morning, authorities had launched a large-scale search operation, with local boaters volunteering to assist. The response was so significant that the Coast Guard asked civilian volunteers to coordinate their efforts to avoid interfering with official search and rescue crews.
On Sunday, Deborah Billmaier shared on Facebook that the Coast Guard informed her the boat’s Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, or EPIRB, was still on the vessel. That meant Spivey and Billmaier were unable to transmit a distress signal to rescuers.
The Coast Guard said the search has been suspended unless new information comes to light. The FBI will now take over the missing persons investigation. Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact USCG Sector St. Petersburg at 866-881-1392.
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