The TV star fisherman who disappeared with his crew after their boat sank off the Massachusetts coast reportedly made a troubling phone call to a close friend just hours before Friday’s tragedy — a detail that’s now raising chilling questions about what went wrong.
Gus Sanfilippo, the captain of the Lily Jean, and six others are feared dead after the 72-foot fishing boat capsized in bone-chilling seas, where water temperatures hovered at a brutal 12 degrees.
Fellow fisherman Sebastian Noto said he spoke with Sanfilippo — a fifth-generation commercial fisherman based in Gloucester, Massachusetts — around 3 a.m., when the two briefly discussed the harsh conditions at sea.
Gus Sanfilippo, the captain of the fishing vessel Lily Jean, reportedly shared a troubling phone call with a close friend just hours before the boat capsized — a moment that now feels haunting in hindsight. Facebook
“I quit. It’s too cold,” Sanfilippo reportedly told Noto, according to NBC Boston. “He was calm. He just couldn’t do the cold because the air holes were freezing.”
Hours later, when there was still no sign of Sanfilippo, Noto said a growing sense of unease began to set in.
“I was about 30 miles east of him. We usually work together all the time. We are like glue man. We give a lot of information back-and-forth,” Noto told the outlet.
A Coast Guard helicopter and rescue boat rushed to the location where the vessel’s distress beacon was triggered — roughly 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann, Massachusetts — but the search was ultimately suspended on Saturday.
Coast Guard officials said no Mayday call was ever received, even as crews scoured nearly 1,000 square miles in a massive search effort.
Over more than 24 grueling hours, crews deployed aircraft, cutters, and small boats, pushing through punishing, near-polar conditions in a relentless search.
The Lily Jean never sent out a Mayday call — a chilling detail that has only deepened the mystery surrounding its final moments. Facebook
Boats sat tied up in Gloucester, Massachusetts, as freezing conditions kept the harbor eerily still. AP
“The decision to suspend the search was incredibly difficult,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lilly Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time.”
Authorities are investigating the cause of the tragedy, but answers remain elusive.
Sanfilippo and his crew aboard the Lily Jean appeared in a 2012 episode of Nor’Easter Men on the History Channel, showcasing the grueling days they spent at sea hunting for seafood.
According to WFXT, one body has been recovered while six others remain missing. An empty life raft and scattered debris were also found drifting in the water.
Jada Samitt, 22, an environmental biology graduate, was among those on board, her family told the outlet.
Mourners have gathered to honor the missing crew, leaving heartfelt tributes in their memory. AP
Her heartbroken aunt, Heather Michaels, said that being at sea had always been Samitt’s “dream.”
“This is something she loved and put her heart and soul into,” Michaels said.
Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said he was “heartbroken” over the sinking, describing it as a devastating blow to the community.
“To have that many lives lost all at once, we haven’t seen that in a long time.”
