UPDATE: U.S.Coast Guard officials have suspended the search for members of a Sarasota family who went missing during a boating trip last weekend.
Two bodies were recovered this week. USCG officials confirmed Saturday the recovered bodies were the father, Ace Kimberly, 45, and his 17-year-old daughter, Rebecca. The two Kimberly teenage boys, Donald, 15, and Roger, 13, have not been found.
Original story: I Coast Guard: 2nd body found in search for missing family
A second body has been discovered in the search for a family that disappeared after setting sail from Sarasota.
The first body was found 4:30 p.m. Wednesday about 46 miles west of Sanibel, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The second body was found just after 11 a.m. Thursday about four miles southeast from that location.
A sailboat mast was found about 101 miles offshore Fort Myers.
The identities of those found have not been released.
Ace Kimberly, 45, and three of his children, Rebecca, 17, Donald, 15, and Roger, 13, have been missing just south of Sarasota since Sunday morning. The family lived together on a 29-foot sailboat.
#UPDATE @USCGSoutheast releases photo taken Saturday of missing family on their 29-foot sailboat. pic.twitter.com/miAvQMBr9B
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 23, 2016
At a press conference Thursday morning, Capt. Gregory Case released new developments in the search:
About 1:15 a.m. Thursday the yellow kayak that fits description of the one that Mr. Kimberly was towing behind the sailboat was recovered by a FWC control boat.
A little over an hour later, at approximately 2:30 a.m., a response boat and a search helicopter saw what they believed to be a flare rise for about 3 seconds in the search area. Crews are currently covering that area.
Around 8:15 a.m., one of the response boats recovered a bucket in the debris field that contained birth certificates, a GPS, a wallet, a cell phone, some cigarettes, a pool noodle and a tool box. The debris was found 5.5 miles west of where the first body was found.
During the search, the Coast Guard has covered over 20,000 nautical miles, executed 30 planned searches and devoted over 60 resource hours.
The group was reportedly en route to Fort Myers to get repairs done on their sailboat. They departed early Sunday morning, heading south on the gulf, and last known contact came later that day.
Around 3 p.m., the father reportedly called his brother to let him know about 6-foot seas. According to the Coast Guard, he told his brother he was "attempting to survive with his children" somewhere offshore near Englewood.
During a news conference on Wednesday morning, officials said crews located a debris field several miles off the coast of Sanibel Island. The debris included life vests, a tarp, four water bottles tied together, a basketball, at least one tennis shoe and a propane tank. There was no sign of the boat near the debris field.
"That is a dire finding," said Capt. Case.
The family was reportedly towing two kayaks behind the boat. Search crews located both kayaks during the search.
In addition to land and sea efforts, a C-130 search and rescue aircraft is scheduled to do a survey flight for more than eight hours Thursday looking for any sign of the family or their boat.
If you or anyone you know is out on the water in this area, keep a close lookout for any signs of this family. Call the Coast Guard in St. Petersburg at 727-824-7506 if you have any information.
