Fifth Body Found in Sunken Sicily Yacht as 1 Person Remains Missing in Wreck, Sources Say

Mar. 15, 2025

Rescue boats of the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian Corps. of Firefighters operate off Porticello near Palermo, on August 21, 2024.Photo:ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty

ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty

A fifth body has been found after aluxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, a source close to the rescue operations confirms to PEOPLE.

The discovery came shortly afterfour bodies were recovered earlieron Wednesday, Aug, 21. Multiple outlets, includingCNNand theBBC, reported that as of Wednesday, the fifth body has been located but not recovered.

Sources also confirm to PEOPLE that there is still one person missing and search efforts are ongoing.

The missing have been identified asMike Lynch, a British tech entrepreneur, andhis daughter Hannah, as well as Chairman of Morgan Stanley InternationalJonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy, and New York City-based lawyerChristopher Morvilloand his wife, Neda.

Rescuers of the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian Corps. of Firefighters patrol on a small boat in Porticello near Palermo, on August 21, 2024 two days after the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian sank.ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty

At the time the yacht sank there were 22 people on board, including 12 passengers and 10 crew.

In the immediate aftermath, 15 people were rescued, according to the coast guard, while a body was retrieved near the vessel andlater identified in news reportsas the chef, Ricardo Thomas.

Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is another one of the individuals who was rescued, according to a local source.

A source close to the survivors previously told PEOPLE that thepassengers were celebratingafter Lynch wasacquittedin June in a financial fraud trial in the U.S.

“That’s why he took his closest friends and colleagues on the trip,” the source said.

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty; Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty; Andy Shaw/Bloomberg via Getty

Morvillohad represented Lynchin the fraud case and other firm employees were on theBayesianas well, a spokesperson for Clifford Chance, his law firm, said in a statement.

Lynch later told Britain’sSunday Timesin a July 27 story that he would’ve died while serving his prison sentence due to his age and lung infection had he been convicted.

“I have various medical things that would have made it difficult to survive,” Lynch, a father of two children — Hannah, 18, and another daughter, 21 — told the paper.

After reports of the tech entrepreneur’s disappearance, Danny Fortson, who interviewed Lynch for theSunday Timesstory, said he was “reeling.”

Fortson told PEOPLE that Lynch seemed “incredibly grateful and happy,” though the businessman wasstill “struggling to accept” his new reality.

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“He was just really struggling to grapple with that,” the journalist said. “He was hugely excited and very thankful, but also just this case had been going on, or the allegations had been going on for more than a decade.”

A source close to the investigators dealing with the incident previously told PEOPLE that authorities are focusing on the victims before looking into what happened.

“Obviously the priority is being able to work out what has happened to those that are missing and recover any bodies,” the source said. “At the moment,no one has been placed under investigationbecause until they find the bodies, they cannot evaluate any sort of accusation or charge.”

source: people.com