GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - The bodies of two men missing since the collision of a fishing boat and a chemical tanker near Galveston, Texas, have been found in the fishing boat's capsized hull, officials said Friday.
The bodies were recovered Thursday afternoon from the 81-foot fishing boat Pappy's Pride, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset told The (Galveston County) Daily News. The county medical examiner's office identified the two as Antonio Robles, 44, of Pharr, Texas, and Raymond Herrera, 57, of Texas City.
That brought to three the final death toll from the Jan. 14 crash. Authorities recovered the body of Pappy's Pride crew member Constantino Corona, 59, of Palacios, Texas, shortly after the crash. The lone survivor, who had been aboard the smaller boat, suffered a broken leg and was rescued from the water.
Herrera's family has sued Odfjell SE, the Norwegian-based owner of the 600-foot chemical tanker Bow Fortune, accusing the company of failing to operate the vessel safely. The company has denied any liability for the crash in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Coast Guard and other first responders attempted to look for the missing for two days before suspending the search. Bad weather and debris around the wreck had delayed the raising of the fishing boat to allow a search of the wreck, Trochesset said.
The crash remains under investigation.
