Bodies found after fishing boat & crew disappeared
THE families of three fishermen who went missing in January have been informed after bodies were recovered at the weekend, police have said.
Carl McGrath, 34, Ross Ballantine 39, and Alan Minard, 20, were on board the Nicola Faith when it left Conwy, North Wales, on January 27.
A major search was launched when the boat failed to return but was stood down two days after their disappearance when nothing was found.
Yesterday North Wales Police said the force was aware the bodies of three men had been recovered from the coastline off Wirral and Blackpool.
A spokesman said: “We have been in contact with colleagues both from Merseyside and Lancashire Police, and we await the outcome of the Home Office postmortem examinations.
“The families of the missing crew members have been kept informed, and continue to be supported by specialist officers.”
More than £55,000 has been raised on a JustGiving page set up by the families of the men to pay for a private search, led by deep water recovery expert David Mearns. Earlier this month, the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch said the boat’s life raft had been found off the coast of Kirkcudbrightshire in south-west Scotland.
A separate GoFundMe page by Lauren Hynes, sister of Carl McGrath, said: “On the 28th of January my brother’s boat with his crew members Ross and Alan were meant to arrive in the Conwy area around 11pm but did not show. The last contact we had with them on the boat was at 9:30pm, we then tried to contact them again at 12pm but had no contact.”