OT - Prayer request - 4 missing off Fla coast

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'd like to ask those who are so inclined to please remember this situation in your prayers.

From the online edition of The Monticello News (my little hometown paper)

Calvin "Jake" Fish, John Fish, Mike Jackson, and Keith Smith have been reported missing by their families after not returning from a fishing venture off the Gulf of Mexico shore near Steinhatchee, Fla.

A prayer service for four Jasper County men who have been declared missing will be held today, August 9 at 7 p.m. at the Monticello Baptist Church, according to Dr. Kerry Bunn.

Mrs. Gina Smith, wife of Keith, informed authorities on Sunday morning that her husband had not returned the night before as he had planned.

The Coast Guard started searching for the four men around 7 p.m. Sunday. Two HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and one C-130 airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., the Coast Guard Cutter Hawk from St. Petersburg, Fla., and a rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Yankeetown, Fla., have since participated in the search as well as the Coast Guard Cutter Cobia and an HU-25 Falcon jet from Mobile, Ala.

According to family members, Smith and Jackson had planned to return late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Calvin Fish and son, John, had planned to stay on through Sunday and return late Sunday night.

Local Florida authorities searched the Woods Gulf Breeze Motel where the group was staying and the marina from which the group departed. The four men were planning to fish offshore in John Fish's 18-foot John boat.

The authorities determined that Smith and Jackson had not left for home as their clothes were still in the hotel room, and one of the group's two trucks was parked at the hotel. The other truck, boat trailer attached, was parked at Woods Gulf Breeze Marina.

The Taylor County, Fla. sheriff's department, Florida Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard have been alerted and are searching for the missing fishermen.

Any information helpful to the investigation should be reported to the Taylor County, Fla. sheriff's office, the Florida Wildlife Service, or the U.S. Coast Guard.

Jake Fish is one of the nicest all-around people I've met since moving here 10 years ago, a familiar face to everyone in this small town & a friend to most of them. His son John is roughly my age & has a couple of children, and Keith Smith is the father of one of my son's classmates.

The story hasn't been picked up by the big-city news outlets yet, not sure that it really matters, it's not like these guys are going to be spotted at the mall or anything. But there's a great feeling of helplessness in a situation like this, it's not like we can go charter a boat and go look for them; that'd be futile & probably end up in the way.

About all we can do here is pray for them & their families, and maybe ask folks to expand that prayer circle a little wider.

Thank you,
Jon

[GrantDawg]

Prayers sent. Sorry to hear about this.

[Eaglesfan27]

Done.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I really hope they find these guys. I'll keep them in my thoughts.

[bigbadraidersfan]

I'll say a little prayer tonight. God is good and I'll pray that His will be done.

[Ben E Lou]

Done.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I just got back from the community prayer service held this evening & wanted to update the community here.

3 of the 4 men have been recovered late today, apparently by Coast Guard rescuers, and have been airlifted to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. The search continues for one of the group, 31 y/o John Fish, initially reported to the family as deceased but subsequently listed again as missing. There are scant details that have even made there way to the family at this point, they're mostly en route to the hospital now (about a 4-5 hour drive). As you might imagine, there's no shortage of rumor or speculation here & I'll avoid getting into that right now, but to be honest & realistic, the hopes for the missing man are very faint right now. At least one news report does refer to the three that were recovered as being in "good condition".
(http://www.fox24.com/topstory/newsit...sp?NewsID=1243)

Okay, I don't want to preach to anybody and I ain't trying to tell anybody what to believe about anything, but I want to say something -- I thank God for His mercy, I thank Him for a place where more than 200 people showed up on short notice
and were in, as I believe is mentioned in Acts "with one accord in prayer ". There's a lot more I'm thankful for right now, from the Coast Guard to AirMed to the doctors and more than I can mention. And that includes those here at FOFC, who offered their own prayers to the common voice I saw in my little town tonight.

Thank you all for your prayers & concern, and please continue to remember those affected in the days & weeks ahead.

Jon

[bigbadraidersfan]

Praise the Lord. I'll make sure I thank Him when I pray for the other missing man and for the families.

[JonInMiddleGA]

A sad update, although not unexpected really.

The body of John Fish was recovered by Coast Guard searchers last night around 730pm.

According to family members I talked with this morning, the boat capsized in rough seas sometime Saturday. John dove repeatedly trying to open a valve (?) to empty the gas tanks, with hopes that the empty tank would cause the hulk to ride higher in the water. In doing so, he swallowed a large amount of fuel & suffered some sort of head trauma. The four men, all with life jackets, lashed themselves together with ropes. John was fine for the first few hours but his condition deteriorated rapidly, eventually losing consciousness & dying sometime on Saturday.

By Sunday morning, his weight was dragging the weakened survivors under with each swell, and his father made the decision to release his son's body from the group.

As of this morning, both Jake Fish & Mike Jackson were being treated for exposure, severe burns from the sun, multiple jellyfish stings, injuries to their wrists from the ropes, and various minor injuries received when the boat overturned; both are expected to survive. Keith Davis is in intensive care, with the same sort of injuries. It's unclear at this point why his condition is worse than the other two survivors, not sure if his injuries are just more severe or if he suffered some additional injuries.

John Fish is survived by his wife & 6 year old daughter Madison, several brothers & sisters, and his parents.

We rejoice in the rescue of three, and mourn the loss of the one. Your prayers for all those affected, as always, are very much appreciated.

[Ben E Lou]

Wow.

Thanks for the update, Jon. Prayers for your community.

--Ben

[Eaglesfan27]

So sad. Your community is in my prayers.

[Franklinnoble]

That's brutal.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just wanted to post an update on this, as well as an additional item.

Most of this is in the following article from the local newspaper, but basically:
Both Keith Smith & Mike Jackson are back at home recovering from their injuries.
Calvin Fish remains hospitalized in Florida, his condition is not as good as hoped, with serious kidney problems as of Saturday. Also, sadly, the body of John Fish was not recovered as first believed. Following the weekend storms, the odds of recovering the body are extremely slim at this point.

Monticello News article

To further add to the weight on the community, this morning we learned that long-time sheriff Mack Tillman died last night at a Macon hospital. "Daddy Mack" to many local residents was a real icon in this area, a genuine pleasure for me to get to know over the past 10 years & countless cups of coffee at the morning breakfast hangout that he owned with his son. If last week's tragedy was overwhelming, this news is just ... stunning I guess might be the right word. I just talked to him on Friday, he was very casual about plans to have a stint placed in his heart later that day. I presume complications occurred during/after the operation, don't really know much right now though.
He will be sorely missed, both by the community at large & on a personal level by many residents.

I gotta tell you folks, I could really use a few days without some bad news right now, this is rather ... well, depressing is a gross understatement.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

My prayers and hopes go with them on this sad day.

[MIJB#19]

Wow, that's really sad news, Jon.

[Vince]

Very sorry to hear that Jon. My thoughts are with you and your community.

[GrantDawg]

Our prayers are with you, Jon.

[hoosierdude]

Yes our prayers are with you and the community.

[MrBug708]

Will do.

"The four men were planning to fish offshore in John Fish's 18-foot John boat."

This line is very oddly constructed....

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Will do.

"The four men were planning to fish offshore in John Fish's 18-foot John boat."

This line is very oddly constructed....

Yep. And that's the product after several days of working on the syntax (I didn't write it but know the person who did very well) From a writer's point of view, the difficulty was compounded by having two men involved with the last name "Fish", which made using "his", "he", etc hard to do.