Search continues for missing fishermen after ship’s discovery

Photos courtesy of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office

The search continued Monday for two missing boaters who took off on a fishing trip from Fort Myers last week and have yet to return.

Randall Spivey, 57, and his nephew Brandon Billmaier, 33, left early Friday morning from a residential dock and were supposed to return home that afternoon.

When the pair hadn’t returned by 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Billmaier’s wife contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, she wrote on Facebook.
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A few hours later, their 42-foot boat was discovered roughly 70 miles offshore, but the men were nowhere to be found. USCG shared a photo of the boat, which appeared to have its anchor line dropped and was not visibly damaged.

Billmaier’s wife, Deborah Billmaier, has asked the public for help via social media.

“We are asking for vessels capable of a 225-mile range to assist in a major offshore search,” she wrote.

She said there would be a reward for those who help locate the pair.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to USCG Sector St. Petersburg at 866-881-1392.

Desperate search for 2 men underway after fishing boat found empty 70 miles off Florida coast

Randall Spivey and Brandon Billmaier left Fort Myers Friday morning and were expected back that afternoon

The search for two missing fishermen identified as 57-year-old Randall Spivey and 33-year-old Brandon Billmaier is underway after their boat was found without them on board.

Spivey and Billmaier went fishing off the coast of Fort Meyers, Florida, on Friday.

Billmaier’s wife wrote in a social media post shared by Semafor White House correspondent Shelby Talcott that her husband and his uncle, Spivey, left early Friday morning and were expected to return in the afternoon.

As of 7:30 p.m. Friday, the two had not returned, and their family had not heard from them.

Randall Spivey, 57, is 6-foot-1 and was last seen in khaki pants and a dark-colored shirt. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Billmaier’s wife said at approximately 11 p.m. the U.S. Coast Guard deployed a helicopter. At 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the family received a call that Spivey and Billmaier’s vessel was found 70 miles off the coast, but the men were not aboard.

Riley Perkofski, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast District, confirmed to Fox News Digital that the boat was still running when it was located.

“The boat was in gear,” Perkofski said. “We deployed a swimmer, and then the swimmer deployed the vessel’s anchor so that it wouldn’t keep moving.”

The family is hoping that more people will be able to join the rescue effort and is asking for those who are willing and able to reach out. Spivey and Billmaier’s family asks those who cannot aid in the rescue to keep the men in their prayers.

“We’ve gotta find them. Please. Please, please find them,” Tricia Spivey, Randall’s wife, said, according to WBBH-TV.  “They’re amazing people. I mean, I, I don’t know, I just — I just need him back. He needs to come back to us.”

On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said it was leading the search and asked for anyone with information to call U.S. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg at 866-881-1392.

By Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard said crews were conducting search and rescue operations across a wide area — about 35 miles in all directions — from the ocean’s surface up to roughly 5,000 feet in the air. Officials also warned aircraft in the area to “maintain situational awareness” and avoid interfering with search and rescue crews.

Brandon Billmaier, 33, went missing while fishing off the coast of Florida with his uncle, Randall Spivey. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Spivey is a 6-foot-1 man with brown hair and brown eyes, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. He was last seen wearing khaki pants and a dark-colored shirt.

Billmaier is 6-foot-2 and has strawberry hair and brown eyes. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office did not describe what the 33-year-old was last seen wearing.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office directed Fox News Digital to the U.S. Coast Guard for additional updates.