The body of technology tycoon Mike Lynch has been recovered after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, as his 18-year-old daughter reportedly remains missing. The Italian Coastguard confirmed to the PA news agency that the sixth and final person yet to be found is a woman. Mr Lynch, his daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo were lost when the Bayesian sank at around 5am on Monday.
The body of the fifth person recovered from the yacht’s wreckage was returned in a blue body bag to the port of Porticello on Thursday morning. Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat. The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht Bayesian, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the US. The businessman, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud relating to its 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
The luxury yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, was reportedly questioned by authorities for two hours as they began speaking to all crew members. A helicopter was previously drafted in to help the search effort, and divers from the local fire.