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Foul Play Suspected In Florida Missing Boat Case
(CBS) MIAMI As Coast Guard cutters and helicopters expand
their search Tuesday for the captain and crew from a Miami Beach based
fishing boat, the FBI hoped to question one of the men who men who
chartered the boat on its last voyage.
35-year old Kirby Logan Archer of Strawberry, Arkansas and 19-year old
Guillermo Zarabozo of Hialeah were found in good condition Monday morning
floating on a life raft 24 hours after the charter boat the “Joe Cool” was
declared overdue.
“We hoisted them out of the water, they were on the raft and now they are
on a Coast Guard cutter where we are providing them medical needs,” U.S
Coast Guard, Dana Ward told CBS station WFOR-TV. “We are interviewing them
individually to find out what happened and hopefully we can figure out
what is going on.”
The two had chartered the charter the boat to drop them off in Bimini,
Bahamas, where they said girls were waiting for them. They were headed
toward Bimini, then half way through the trip turned south.
"That leads us to believe that something happened at that time," Judge
said.
Sunday, the “Joe Cool” charter boat, a 47-foot sport fishing yacht, was
found adrift 160 miles south of Bimini, near the Cay Sal Bank, with no one
on board.
Those missing include the captain of the “Joe Cool,” 27-year old Jake
Branam, his wife Kelly, 30-year old Scott Campbell and 27-year old Samuel
Kairy.
FBI agents were hoping to question Archer Tuesday to confirm that he is
the same man who is a fugitive accused of stealing nearly $100,000 from a
Wal-Mart in Arkansas where he worked as an assistant manager. Independence
County, Arkansas Sheriff Keith Bowers said the assistant manager was
brazen in getting the money out of the store, putting it in an empty
microwave box.
"He put the money in the box and went to the front acting like he was
paying for a microwave and even used his employee discount," Bowers said.
Jake Branam's uncle fears the worst.
"I think the two chartered the boat under false pretense," said Branam.
"They pirated the boat. They dumped the crew overboard and after going to
Bimini, they took the boat South 100 miles, and the boat broke down."
The charter took off from the Miami Beach Marina on a fishing trip to
Bimini on Saturday and was supposed to return by noon Sunday. When it
didn’t, a family member called the Coast Guard at 4:00 p.m., and reported
them missing.
Coast Guard boarding team members say when they finally found and boarded
the “Joe Cool,” the abandoned vessel was disarray with the life-raft
missing. According to the ship’s Global Positioning System, the Joe Cool
made several erratic movements and began heading south about halfway into
their voyage.
Archer and Zarabozo were found alive on a life raft approximately 12 miles
north of where the “Joe Cool” was discovered.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press
contributed to this report. ) |
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