Double tragedy off Maine coast after fisherman and girlfriend encountered SHIPWRECK while gathering clams
A fishing boat captain and his girlfriend have died after encountering a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod.
Shawn Arsenault, 64, and Felicia Daley, 54, vanished without a trace after setting off from Rock Harbor in Orleans, Massachusetts to go clamming on Sunday.
A frantic manhunt was launched for the pair, with officials finally finding Arsenault's sunken boat three days later about five miles away, near Eastham.
The couple were found inside the 'wheelhouse' of the boat, the captain's brother Paul Arsenault told the Boston Globe.
They were not wearing life jackets and had not made a distress call, he added.
Paul suspects his brother's beloved Seahorse, a 30-foot white-hulled vessel, got 'hooked up on a wreck that was on the bottom of the ocean'.
He thinks the incident 'happened so fast' that Arsenault and Daley were unable to contact emergency services for help.
The Coast Guard is also investigating reports that the fisherman threw electronic electronic equipment into the water before leaving the harbor.
Shawn Arsenault, 64, (pictured) and Felicia Daley, 54, vanished without a trace after setting off from Rock Harbor in Orleans, Massachusetts to go clamming on Sunday.
The couple's bodies were found inside the 'wheelhouse' of their sunken fishing boat on Wednesday morning (Pictured: Felicia Daley)
The couple set off from Rock Harbor in Orleans on Saturday aboard their 30-foot white fishing boat, which features a painted mermaid on the bow and 'Seahorse' scrawled across the stern
Arsenault and Daley planned to go clamming near the Target Ship Wreck in Cape Cod Bay aboard the Seahorse, which features a painted mermaid on the bow.
They were reported missing on Tuesday morning when the harbormaster saw Arsenault's truck still parked at marina two days after the Seahorse left the harbor.
Authorities began to search for the pair at the boat's last known location, which according to a cell phone ping was roughly two miles offshore from Chatham.
Search crews were set to both sides of the harbor because 'phone pings have a high degree of variability'.
The Coast Guard issued an urgent emergency alert and carried out an extensive search of Cape Cod Bay's fishing area overnight.
A recreational fisherman spotted Arsenault's missing boat on Wednesday morning which, according to the Coast Guard, was found 'off shore inside the bay'.
The cellphone ping 'put them offshore in Chatham on the wrong side', a spokesperson added.
Officials previously said weather likely wasn't a factor in their disappearance, although search efforts were hampered by fog and thunderstorms.
A frantic manhunt was launched for the pair, with officials finally finding Arsenault's sunken boat three days later about five miles away, near Eastham
Paul said his brother and Daley, who had been dating for several months, were both experienced on boats.
He told the newspaper that owning the Seahorse was 'Shawn's dream' and Sunday marked 'only his third time out' on the boat.
Arsenault recently got 'new radar' and a 'fish finder', Paul added, noting his brother 'was excited' about his new equipment.
Witnesses reported seeing Arsenault throw equipment overboard when he left the dock on Sunday morning.
'I noticed in the surf there was something floating, so I went down to see what it was, and it turned out to be a GPS unit off of a boat,' local resident Sam Miller, who spotted the device while walking along the beach with her father told CBS Boston.
'We could tell it was a GPS unit off a boat... it had blue tape on it that said 'F/V Seahorse.'
The Coast Guard confirmed it have received reports from locals, but did not say what equipment may have been tossed. The agency is investigating the reports.
But Paul remains skeptical, telling the Globe that he 'can't imagine' Arsenault throwing anything overboard because 'all that stuff means a lot to him'.
A GPS unit matching the vessel was later found washed ashore
The pair planned to go clamming near Cape Cod Bay, but never returned (Pictured: Rock Habor in Orleans, MA)
The grieving brother also paid tribute to Arsenault and his partner, whom he claims were 'absolutely nuts about each other'.
He hailed the fishing captain as a 'hero' and said he was 'very loved in his community', sharing how Arsenault would go out of his way to help those in need.
'There was one gentleman with Parkinson's ... my brother would cook him dinner every night and walk it down to him,' he told the newspaper. 'That's the kind of person he was.'
Arsenault also 'loved being on the water,' Paul explained, telling WCVB: 'He loved the excitement. He loved being his own boss. He loved being a captain.'
He added the tragedy is 'like a nightmare' and he is still 'waiting to wake up'.
The couple's friends are also mourning their deaths, with Arsenault's friend Patrick sharing how the late fisherman was 'cracking jokes' and had a voice so loud that 'you would know he was in the next town over'.
Daley's friend Scott Amerault told TV station 'if you had her as a friend, you had a good friend'.
Although he is wondering what went wrong in the harbor, Amerault said the ocean 'takes you when it wants to' and 'you can't question what the ocean does'.
Coast Guard Commander Cliff Graham, pictured in 2018 explaining the drift-current complications in a search area off the eastern coast of Guam, issued his condolences to the couple's loved ones, saying: 'Our hearts go out to the families of both persons onboard'
Some locals have suggested the structure of the boat may have contributed to the tragedy, with one alleging it was 'not a very stable boat'.
'It had a round shine, and a lot of gear high. If it got hung up on a drag or something like that, it'd go right over,' charter operator Hap Farrell to WCVB.
Coast Guard Commander Cliff Graham, in a statement to NBC 10, confirmed the tragedy and said: 'Our hearts go out to the families of both persons onboard.
'The level of support from our maritime response partners and members from the fishing and local community was remarkable. It directly contributed to detection of the vessel and closure for the family.'
Daily Mail has approached the Coast Guard for further comment.
