The search for two lawyers who vanished while on a fishing trip has been abandoned after days of no signs of life.
Uncle and nephew Randal Spivey and Brandon Billmaier had left for a fishing trip off the coast of Florida on Friday, but failed to come back around 7.30pm that evening.
A panicked search began, with the US Coast Guard finding their boat floating 70 miles off the coast with the engine still on, but both men were missing.
Now, the FBI has taken over the investigation as they search for more answers.
Former FBI agent Richard Kolko said the circumstances in which the family members vanished is ‘unusual’.
‘So the FBI has initiated a missing persons case. They were beyond the territorial limits of the U.S. coast,’ he told Wink News.
In a statement, the family wrote: ‘Randy was an attorney helping those who were injured for over 30 years. Likewise, following in his uncle’s footsteps, Brandon was also an attorney advocating for those who were injured as well.
‘Few people were more concerned about the safety of innocent people than Randy and Brandon. We know—without question—that they would reach the same conclusion as the experts: that everything possible has been done.
‘They would ask that this decision be respected and that the bravery and heroism of those who searched—those in the air and on the water doing the real, dangerous work—be honoured.
‘The family asks for your compassion, understanding, and support during this unimaginably difficult time. We love you all.’
Spivey was last seen wearing khaki pants and a dark-colored shirt – he has brown hair and eyes, and is 6’1”.
Billmaier has strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes and is 6’2”.
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