A lawyer who was on the yacht that sank near Sicily’s coast shared a chilling message on social media before disappearing.
Christopher Morvillo, 59, was aboard the superyacht earlier this week, accompanied by British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his wife, and their 18-year-old daughter.
Jonathan Bloomer, a senior executive at Morgan Stanley, was also among the passengers.
The Italian coastguard released a statement saying: “This morning at about 5am, following a violent storm, a 56-metre yacht called Bayesian flying the British flag sank near Porticello.”
The yacht, named Bayesian and flying a British flag, had 22 people on board, including 12 passengers and 10 crew members, when it ran into trouble around 4:30 in the morning, according to Italian coast guards.
One person has been confirmed dead from the shipwreck, while 15 individuals have been rescued.
Six people are still missing from the vessel.
Among the missing is Morvillo, who had recently defended Lynch in a fraud case.
Before he went missing, Morvillo posted on LinkedIn celebrating a legal victory for his team.
He concluded his post with gratitude: “A huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.
“None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home.”
In a sentence that took on a grim significance after his disappearance, he finished: “And they all lived happily ever after….”
One of the survivors of the shipwreck is Charlotte Golunski, a partner at one of Lynch’s companies, Invoke Capital.
Golunski was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter Sofia and her partner James Emsley, Sofia’s father.
In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, she recounted her ordeal during the wreck: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.
“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
Ricardo Thomas, a private chef on the yacht, has been confirmed dead according to reports. Originally from Canada, Ricardo had moved to Antigua.
The Palermo Port Authority confirmed to CBC News that his body was recovered from the wreckage.
The search operation for the six missing individuals continues, with updates to be provided as they become available.