Massachusetts governor asks US Navy to help probe deadly fishing boat sinking

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has asked the U.S. Navy to assist in the investigation into the sinking of a fishing vessel that resulted in the deaths of seven crew members earlier this year, the Navy confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Healey and State Sen. Bruce Tarr this week sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy asking for help retrieving a video recorder and hard drive from the January wreck of the Lily Jean, which was found more than 1,000 feet into the Atlantic, about 25 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, WFXT-TV reported. This letter may determine the cause of the sinking.

“The Office of the Secretary of the Navy is receiving correspondence,” a spokesperson for the Secretary of the Navy told Fox News Digital on Saturday. “A response is being prepared and will be forwarded directly to the Governor’s Office.”

The governor also hopes to recover the remaining six bodies from the 72-foot boat that sank on January 30.

COAST GUARD NAMED THE 7 VICTIMS OF THE GLOUCESTER COMMERCIAL FISHING BOAT THAT SINKED OFF THE OFF MASSACHUSETTS

Lily Jean Captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo’s body is the only one recovered.

The other six people who died in the sinking included crew member Paul Beal Jr.; crew member John Rousanidis; crew member Freeman Short; crew member Sean Therrien; and NOAA fisheries observer Jada Samitt.

“What caused this isn’t as important as bringing the crew back,” Donna Short, the mother of 31-year-old Freeman Short, who is planning the wedding, told WFXT.

He said he had spoken to her a few days before he set off on the fatal journey.

“He said to me, ‘Hey mom, you know I’m leaving,’ and I told him I loved him,” she said, adding that recovering his body “was a matter of laying him to rest where his legacy began: with his grandfathers, who were veterans.”

A banner honoring the crew of the Lily Jean is displayed at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Monument in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on January 31, 2026. (Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe)

TWO PEOPLE ARE HIGHLY WANTED WHEN A FISHING BOAT WAS FOUND EMPTY 70 MILES OFF THE FLORIDA COAST.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard are participating in an ongoing investigation into the sinking.

The Coast Guard’s search for the missing crew was suspended on Jan. 31, a day after the sinking, and the NTSB said it was not conducting rescue efforts, according to WFXT.

When the Lily Jean sank, Coast Guard watchmen took up an emergency position indicating a radio beacon (EPIRB) alert registered on the ship around 6:50 a.m.

According to officials, the USCG crew attempted to contact the boat and, receiving no response, issued an urgent marine information broadcast (UMIB).

Multiple aircraft, cutters, and small boats searched the 1,047-square-mile area for 24 hours, finding debris along with the captain’s body and an empty life raft deployed near where the EPIRB was activated.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey speaks with U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick after a press conference in Gloucester on January 31, 2026. The Coast Guard canceled the search for the fishing boat Lily Jean, which had seven crew members. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty Images)

Search and rescue mission coordinators, on-scene commanders, and the Coast Guard determined on January 31 that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crew members had been exhausted.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION

“The purpose of the Coast Guard investigation is not to indict civil or criminal wrongdoing, but to identify measures that may improve the safety of life and property at sea,” the Coast Guard wrote in a statement at the time.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Healey’s office for comment.

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.