Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts has reached out to the U.S. Navy for assistance in probing the tragic incident involving a fishing boat that sank earlier this year, resulting in the loss of seven crew members. This request has been confirmed by the Navy to Fox News Digital.
In a joint effort, Healey and State Senator Bruce Tarr have appealed to the Secretary of the Navy, seeking aid in recovering a video recorder and hard drive from the wreckage of the Lily Jean. This vessel went down in January and now rests over 300 feet deep in the Atlantic, approximately 25 miles off the Massachusetts coast, as reported by WFXT-TV. The retrieval of these items could potentially shed light on the cause of the vessel’s sinking.
A representative from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy informed Fox News Digital on Saturday that they have received the communication from the governor’s office. They stated, “We are currently preparing a response, which will be sent directly to Governor Healey.”
Governor Healey is also determined to recover the bodies of the six remaining crew members from the 72-foot boat, which tragically sank on January 30.
Governor Healey’s request for Navy assistance highlights the ongoing efforts to uncover the details surrounding the unfortunate accident that claimed seven lives. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images; Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The body of Lily Jean Captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo is the only one that has been recovered.
The six others who died in the sinking include crew member Paul Beal Jr.; crew member John Rousanidis; crew member Freeman Short; crew member Sean Therrien; and NOAA fisheries observer Jada Samitt.
“What caused it is not as important as retrieving the crew,” Donna Short, the mother of Freeman Short, a 31-year-old who was planning a wedding, told WFXT.
She said she spoke to him a few days before he went out on the doomed trip.
“He told me, ‘Hey mom, you know I’m going to be going,’ and I told him I loved him,” she said, adding that recovering his body is a “matter of laying him to rest where his legacy began next to both of his grandfathers, who are veterans.”
A placard honoring the crew of the Lily Jean is displayed at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial in Gloucester, Mass., on Jan. 31, 2026. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe)
The National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard are involved in an ongoing investigation into the sinking.
The Coast Guard’s search for the missing crew members was suspended on Jan. 31, a day after the sinking, and the NTSB said it doesn’t do recoveries, according to WFXT.
When the Lily Jean sank, Coast Guard watchstanders received an emergency position indicating a radio beacon (EPIRB) alert at about 6:50 a.m. registered to the vessel.
USCG crews attempted to contact the boat, and after getting no response, issued an urgent marine information broadcast (UMIB), according to officials.
Multiple aircraft, cutters and small boats searched 1,047 square miles over 24 hours, finding debris near the location where the EPIRB was activated, along with the captain’s body and an unoccupied life raft that had been deployed.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey talks with U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick after a press conference in Gloucester on Jan. 31, 2026. The Coast Guard called off the search for the fishing vessel Lily Jean, which had seven crew members. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty Images)
Search and rescue mission coordinators, on-scene commanders and the Coast Guard determined on Jan. 31 all reasonable search efforts for the missing crew members had been exhausted.
“The purpose of a Coast Guard investigation is to identify measures that can improve the safety of life and property at sea, not to assign civil or criminal blame,” the Coast Guard wrote in a statement at the time.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Healey’s office for comment.
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