British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the first to go missing after his superyacht Bayesian sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily early on Monday morning.
On Thursday morning, Italian authorities confirmed the identities of five bodies found on the luxury liner after a three-day operation in which divers carefully entered cabin bedrooms.
Mr Lynch, who was extradited to the US to face an $11 billion fraud case after a 10-year legal battle, had celebrated by inviting close friends, colleagues and members of his legal team onto his boat as a token of his gratitude.
But a week of sunny weather along the Italian coastline turned to horror when the boat capsized at dawn, giving those on board only minutes to get themselves to safety.
Mr Lynch was confirmed dead along with Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Search efforts are now focused on finding the entrepreneur’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who is still missing after her boat capsized during a freak tornado known as the cyclone.
The British-flagged ship, named the Bayesian, was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew and sank near the Sicilian capital of Palermo at around 5am local time.
The yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was confirmed dead after his body was pulled from the wreckage on Monday, while 15 others were rescued.
Here’s what we know about the 22 people on board.
Mike Lynch
Long before the boat incident, British tech giant Mike Lynch was in the news for being at the center of a major fraud case.
The disappearance of the 59-year-old businessman, best known for founding Invoke Capital and Autonomy, comes just weeks after he was cleared by a US jury of all charges relating to his sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
HP alleged, just a year after the sale, that Mr Lynch had used accounting tricks to artificially inflate its value ahead of the sale. He spent 13 months under house arrest before being extradited to the US last May, where he stood trial in June this year in a case in which he was acquitted of all 15 charges.
Mr Lynch a Sunday Times He told a reporter last month that he was “about to go on a very long vacation.”
In June, he spoke of the “indescribable relief” of being back home in Suffolk with his wife, daughters and six dogs. He told reporters: “I’m really looking forward to getting back to the UK and getting back to what I love most, my family and innovating in my field.”
Angela Baccarat
Angela Bacares, 57, Mike Lynch’s wife, managed to escape to safety and is in a wheelchair, unable to walk because of the abrasions on her feet, La Repubblica reported.
The newspaper reported that the woman told doctors that the boat had tipped over at 04:00 and that she and her husband had been woken up.
The couple, known as Angela Bacares, have an estimated fortune of £852 million, as of the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List. They have a home in Chelsea, west London, but mostly live on their farm in Suffolk with their six dogs and rare breeds of pigs and cows.
Hannah Lynch
Mr Lynch was travelling with his daughter Hannah, who is still missing.
The 18-year-old is reportedly the younger of Lynch’s two daughters, the eldest of whom is studying at Imperial College London.
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Hannah had just finished her A-levels and secured a place to study English at Oxford University. TimesFriends told the newspaper that she was a “supernova” and a “staunch feminist” and also “kind and good-hearted, but also funny and tough. A voracious reader and a natural intellectual.”
Chris Morville
Chris Morvillo is a lawyer representing Mr Lynch in the US case. He is a partner at the law firm Clifford Chance, which confirmed on Tuesday that he was one of the six missing people.
In his most recent LinkedIn post, he thanked the legal team that helped win Mr. Lynch’s case. At the end of the post, he thanked his family for their support: “And finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, smart, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.
“None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I’m so happy to be home. And they all lived happily ever after…”
Neda Morville
Chris Morvillo’s wife, Neda, 57, was with him on holiday. She has a luxury jewelry line that she runs under her maiden name, Neda Nassiri.
“Our thoughts are with our partner Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, who are among those missing,” her husband’s firm, Clifford Chance, said in a statement.
Jonathan Bloomer
One of those confirmed dead is Jonathan Bloomer, a lawyer and chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley International.
He is also the chairman of insurance provider Hiscox, which confirmed he was missing. The group’s chief executive, Aki Hussain, said they were “deeply shocked and saddened” by the news.
Mr Bloomer was a defence witness during Mr Lynch’s US criminal trial and the pair are believed to be good friends. Financial Times.
Judy Bloomer
Jonathan Bloomer’s wife Judy was also on the yacht and was confirmed dead.
Mr Hussain said in a statement: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected, especially our chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, who are among those missing.”
Ms Bloomer sits on the board of charity The Eve Appeal, which focuses on gynaecological cancers. The charity described her as “a brilliant champion for women’s health and medical research… an incredible supporter, committee member and trustee of our charity for over 20 years”.
Pastor Thomas
Recaldo Thomas is thought to be the superyacht’s chef and the first person to be confirmed dead.
The body of Thomas, a Canadian-born man living in Antigua, was recovered from the wreckage, the Palermo Port Authority told Canadian broadcaster CBC News.
The BBC and some Italian newspapers initially reported his name as Ricardo Thomas.
His friends paid tribute to him on Facebook, with one saying: “Rest in power big man. I don’t know what else to say except I love you and I always will.”
Another wrote: “I will miss you so much Recaldo Thomas, still hard to believe.”
Ayla Ronald
Law firm Clifford Chance confirmed Ayla Ronald and her partner were two of the 15 survivors of the yacht disaster.
The 36-year-old defended Lynch in court and attended a celebration of her acquittal.
“Our top priority is to provide support to the family of our colleague Ayla Ronald, who thankfully survived the incident along with her partner,” Clifford Chance said in a statement.
Her father, Lin Ronald, said he was originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, but lived in London Telegram, He said he was “very shaken.”
Ronald said he was “invited to join the sailing sport following the success of the recent US court case”.
Matthew
Ayla’s partner, Matthew, also survived the boat disaster, but little is known about his background or condition.
Charlotte Golunsky
Charlotte Golunski’s account of her ordeal on the ship was one of the first to be released after she was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter Sofia.
He spoke to the Italian newspaper RepublicHe confirmed that he had survived the yacht sinking and described how he kept his daughter alive after she was rescued. He said: “I kept her afloat with all my strength, I put my arms up to stop her from drowning. It was pitch black. I couldn’t keep my eyes open in the water. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me were the screams of others.”
The 35-year-old is a partner at Invoke Capital, one of Mr. Lynch’s law firms, and has worked there since 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile.
James Emsley
Ms Golunksi’s partner, James Emsley, was also rescued from the yacht, according to Sicily’s Civil Protection Agency. Little is known about him but it has been confirmed that he is the father of the 36-year-old woman’s one-year-old daughter.
Sofia
Rescued from the water by her mother, 1-year-old Sofia was taken to hospital for treatment.
Ms Golunski told the Italian newspaper: Republic He said his family survived because they were on deck when the yacht sank in a violent storm.
Dr. Domenico Cipolla told local media that the family had experienced “a physical and psychological upheaval in their lives.”
She said the hospital “provides the babies with toys, cuddles, and feeds them because they are scared and hungry.”
The family of three left Di Cristina Children’s Hospital via the rear entrance in a black minibus on Tuesday. They were accompanied by an officer from the British embassy, who covered the family’s faces with a jacket to hide them from the crowd of photographers.
James Catfield
The captain of the superyacht James Catfield survived the horror and broke his silence with just five words on Tuesday.
“We weren’t expecting this,” he said as he waited outside an emergency room in the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese and was described as “lame”, according to local media.
Lion Eppel
The Italian coastguard confirmed on Tuesday evening that crew member Leo Eppel also survived the yacht’s sinking.