The U.S. Coast Guard suspended search operations Saturday morning for six missing crewmembers from the 72-foot fishing vessel Lily Jean, which activated an emergency beacon approximately 25 miles off Cape Ann, Massachusetts, on Friday.

Coast Guard crews conducted continuous search operations for 24 hours after receiving the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) activation at approximately 6:50 a.m. Friday morning. Seven people were reported to be aboard the vessel when the distress signal was received.

Search assets, including an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod, a small boat crew from Station Gloucester, and Coast Guard Cutter Thunder Bay, located a debris field near the beacon’s reported position. Rescue crews recovered one unresponsive individual from the water and found the vessel’s life raft deployed but unoccupied.

Coast Guard crews covered approximately 1,047 square miles during the 24-hour search effort, conducting coordinated search patterns based on weather conditions, sea state, and available evidence using multiple aircraft, cutters, and small boats.

“The decision to suspend the search was incredibly difficult,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lilly Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time.”

After consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation by the Coast Guard Northeast District.

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