The lone body recovered from the water after the sinking of the Lily Jean, a fishing vessel out of Gloucester, has been identified as Accursio Sanfilippo, the ship’s 55-year-old captain.
The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Sanfilippo as the individual recovered by the U.S. Coast Guard after the 72-foot ship sank off the coast of Cape Ann on Friday with seven people aboard.
A Gloucester native, Sanfilippo, was “a skilled and respected fisherman,” The Gloucester International Dory Racing Committee said in a Sunday Facebook post.
Sanfilippo named his boat after his daughter, Lily Jean.
“Gus was far more than a member of this committee — he was a friend, teammate, teacher, handyman, and someone who could always be counted on,” the committee wrote.
The Coast Guard began searching for the vessel Friday morning after receiving a signal from an emergency position-indicating beacon. By Friday evening, searchers had discovered a debris field near the signal’s reported location and recovered one of the crew members’ bodies, now identified as Sanfilippo.
The Coast Guard suspended the search on Saturday. The cause of the sinking has not yet been announced.
Sanfilippo is the only crew member recovered so far. The other six people aboard have been identified:
- Paul Beal Sr., crew
- Paul Beal Jr., crew
- John Rousanidis, crew
- Freeman Short, crew
- Sean Therrien, crew
- Jada Samitt, NOAA fisheries observer and crew
Fundraisers have been established in the names of some crew members.
