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Body recovered, others missing as Coast Guard searches for fishing boat off Gloucester
Rescue crews sent to search the area also found a debris field and an unoccupied life raft.
Rescue crews pulled a body from the water off Gloucester Friday while searching for a missing fishing boat, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard said it received an emergency radio beacon from the 72-foot fishing vessel Lily Jean around 6:50 a.m. The agency tried unsuccessfully to contact the boat and issued an urgent marine information broadcast.
Rescue crews sent to search the area found a debris field and pulled one “unresponsive body” from the water, according to the Coast Guard. They also found an unoccupied life raft associated with the Lily Jean.
The ship was carrying a crew of seven people, and the U.S. Coast Guard was expected to maintain a search for survivors around the clock amid howling winds and frigid temperatures, according to the Associated Press.
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“We will continue to search throughout the night with the cutter, hoping to find additional folks as we continue,” Coast Guard Commander Timothy Jones, who is coordinating the search and rescue, said. He added that the crew was “coming back in full of fish” and may have had problems with their fishing gear that required them to return for repairs.
Jones said they are “always hoping to find” survivors from the vessel. But another Coast Guard official, Sector Boston Commander Jamie Frederick, acknowledged the search poses “challenging” problems considering the vessel sank and the search is on for people in the water, according to the Associated Press.
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“That is the equivalent of searching for a coconut in the ocean,” Frederick said.
The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men,” according to the Associated Press. Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.
Gov. Maura Healey said she was heartbroken about the devastating news.
“I am praying for the crew, and my heart goes out to their loved ones and all Gloucester fishing families during this awful time,” she said.
My statement on the sinking of the Lily Jean fishing vessel off the coast of Gloucester. pic.twitter.com/yeBsVH8nuA
— Governor Maura Healey (@MassGovernor) January 30, 2026
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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