Five bodies have now been found inside the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily, as the desperate search for the final missing passenger continues.
The Bayesian, a 183-foot vessel, sank around 5 a.m. local time on Monday, August 19, after it was hit by a tornadic waterspout during a storm. At the time the yacht sank, there were 22 people on board, including 12 passengers and 10 crew members.
In the immediate aftermath, 15 people were rescued, according to the Italian Coast Guard, while a body was retrieved near the vessel and later identified in news reports as the chef, Ricardo Thomas, who was confirmed dead on Monday.
The six missing have been identified as British billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was one of the individuals who was rescued.
The three-day search operation has been complicated by the depth of the wreck and debris hampering efforts to access the cabins. Fire crews have described the operation as “complex,” with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.
A source close to the survivors told PEOPLE that the passengers on board were celebrating after Lynch was acquitted in 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.
Morvillo had represented Lynch in the fraud case, and other firm employees were also on the Bayesian, a spokesperson for Clifford Chance, his law firm, said in a statement.
Danny Fortson—who interviewed Lynch after his acquittal for The Sunday Times—told PEOPLE that he felt Lynch was “in shock” as he was given a “second life.”
“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.”
Fortson noted that Lynch was originally facing over a dozen charges that could have sentenced him to 25 years in prison. “Given his age and some health issues, he was very clear that he would probably die in prison in America,” said the journalist.
In a post to X, Fortson reacted to the news that Lynch was missing, writing, “The terrible irony is that when we sat down last month, he made it clear that he felt he had won a new lease on life.”
