The governor of Massachusetts is asking the US Navy to help investigate the sinking of a fishing boat
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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has asked the US Navy to assist in the investigation of the sinking of a fishing vessel earlier this year that left seven crew members dead, the Navy and the governor’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Healey and State Sen. Bruce Tarr sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy this week asking for help in recovering a video recorder and a hard drive from the wreck of the Lily Jean in January, lying more than 300 feet down in the Atlantic about 25 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, which could determine the cause of the sinking.
“Governor Healey is asking the Navy to return material on board that could provide important information about what caused the ship to sink,” Healey’s office told Fox News Digital on Saturday. “He also requested that the Navy examine the possibility of retrieving the remains of the missing personnel, in accordance with the wishes of each family.”
The governor’s office added that Healey had “previously asked the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the US Coast Guard to investigate the equipment on board, but unfortunately the NTSB has told us they do not intend to lead an effort to retrieve it.”
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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has asked the US Navy to help investigate the sinking of a fishing vessel earlier this year that left seven crew members dead. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images; Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
A spokesperson from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy told Fox News Digital, “The Office of the Secretary of the Navy is receiving this letter. The response is being processed and will be forwarded directly to the Governor’s office.”
The body of Lily Jean Captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo was the only one found.
Six others who died in the sinking of Jan. 30 include staff member Paul Beal Jr.; team member John Rousanidis; band member Freeman Short; team member Sean Therrien; and NOAA fisheries observer Jada Samitt.
“What caused it is not as important as getting the workers back,” Donna Short, mother of Freeman Short, 31, who was planning the wedding, told WFXT.
He said he spoke to her a few days before he left on a trip that was about to end.
“He told me, ‘Hey mom, you know I’m going,’ and I told him I love him,” he said, adding that returning his body “is a matter of laying him to rest where his legacy began next to his grandfather, who are veterans.”
A placard honoring the crew of the Lily Jean is displayed at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester, Mass., on Jan. 31, 2026. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe)
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The National Transportation Safety Board and the US Coast Guard are involved in the ongoing investigation into the sinking.
The Coast Guard’s search for the missing crew members was suspended on January 31, a day after the sinking, and the NTSB said it had found nothing, according to WFXT.
While the Lily Jean was sinking, Coast Guard observers found an emergency radio beacon warning beacon (EPIRB) at about 6:50 a.m. registered on the ship.
USCG personnel attempted to contact the vessel, and after receiving no response, issued an emergency marine information bulletin (UMIB), according to officials.
Multiple aircraft, cutters and small boats searched 1,047 square kilometers over 24 hours, finding debris near the location where the EPIRB had been activated, as well as the captain’s body and a non-functional life raft that was being used.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey talks with US Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick after a press conference in Gloucester on Jan. 31, 2026. The Coast Guard has called off the search for the fishing vessel Lily Jean, which had seven crew members. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty Images)
Search and rescue coordinators, field managers and the Coast Guard decided on Jan. 31 all search efforts for the missing group members had failed.
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“The purpose of the Coast Guard investigation is to identify ways to improve the safety of life and property at sea, not to blame the public or crime,” the Coast Guard wrote in a statement at the time.
Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
