British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among the people initially unaccounted for after his superyacht Bayesian sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday.
On Thursday morning, Italian authorities confirmed the identities of five bodies found inside the luxury vessel, after a three-day operation that has seen divers carefully navigating their way into the cabin bedrooms.
After a decade-long legal battle which had seen him extradited to the US to face an $11bn fraud case, Mr Lynch had celebrated by inviting his close friends, colleagues and those who helped him on his legal team aboard his boat as a gesture of gratitude.
Yet a week of sunshine along the Italian coastline would soon toon to horror, after the boat capsized shortly before dawn, only offering those onboard a few minutes to get themselves to safety.
Mr Lynch has now been confirmed dead, alongside Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Search efforts are now focused on finding the entrepreneur’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, who remains unaccounted for after the boat dramatically capsized during a freak tornado, known as a waterspout.
The British-flagged vessel named Bayesian was carrying 12 passengers and 10 members of crew when it sank at around 5am local time near the Sicilian capital of Palermo.
The yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, is already confirmed to have died after his body was recovered from the wreck on Monday, while 15 survivors were rescued.
Here’s what we know about the 22 people on board.
Mike Lynch
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch had been in the headlines long before the boat incident following being the centre of a high-profile fraud case.
The 59-year-old is known for founding Invoke Capital and Autonomy, and his disappearance comes just weeks after he was cleared of all charges by a US jury related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
HP claimed, just a year after the sale, that Mr Lynch had used accounting tricks to artificially inflate its value before the sale. He spent 13 months under house arrest before being extradited to the US last May for a trial that acquitted him in June this year on all 15 counts.
Mr Lynch told a Sunday Times journalist last month that he was “about to go on a very long holiday.”
In June, he spoke of his “indescribable relief” at being back at home in Suffolk with his wife, daughters and their six dogs. He told reporters: “I am looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field.”
Angela Bacares
Wife of Mike Lynch, 57-year-old Angela Bacares managed to escape to safety and is in a wheelchair with abrasions on her feet that prevent her from walking, according to la Repubblica.
The newspaper said she told doctors that at 4am, the boat had tilted and she and her husband were woken up.
Under Angela Bacares’ name, the couple’s estimated wealth is £852m, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed in 2023. They have a house in Chelsea, west London, but primarily live on their farm in Suffolk with their six dogs and rare breeds of pigs and cows.
Hannah Lynch
Mr Lynch was travelling with his daughter Hannah, who remains missing.
The 18-year-old is reportedly the younger of Mr Lynch’s two daughters, with the eldest reportedly studying at Imperial College London.
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Hannah had just completed her A-levels and secured a place to read English at Oxford University, according to The Times. Her friends told the newspaper she is a “supernova” and a “staunch feminist” as well as “gentle and kind, while also fun and fierce. A voracious reader and natural intellectual”.
Chris Morvillo
Chris Morvillo is a lawyer who represented Mr Lynch in his US trial. He is a partner at the Clifford Chance law firm who confirmed on Tuesday he was among the six missing.
In his most recent LinkedIn post, he thanked the legal team that helped win Mr Lynch’s trial. At the end of the post, he thanked his family for their support: “And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo.
“None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after….”
Neda Morvillo
Chris Morvillo’s 57-year-old wife Neda was with him on the holiday. She has a luxury jewellery brand, which she runs under her maiden name Neda Nassiri.
Her husband’s firm Clifford Chance said in a statement: “Our thoughts are with our partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda who are among the missing.”
Jonathan Bloomer
Another of those confirmed to be dead is lawyer Jonathan Bloomer who is the chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley International.
He is also chairman of the insurance provider Hiscox, which confirmed he is missing. Its group chief executive Aki Hussain said they were “deeply shocked and saddened” by the news.
Mr Bloomer was a defence witness for Mr Lynch during his US criminal trial and the pair are believed to be good friends, according to the Financial Times.
Judy Bloomer
Jonathan Bloomer’s wife Judy was also on board the yacht and has been confirmed dead.
Mr Hussain said in his statement: “Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing.”
Mrs Bloomer is on the board of The Eve Appeal charity, which focuses on gynaecological cancers. The charity described her as a “brilliant champion for women’s health and medical research… an incredible supporter, committee member, and trustee of our charity for over 20 years”.
Recaldo Thomas
Recaldo Thomas is understood to be the superyacht’s chef and the first person whose death was confirmed.
The Palermo Port Authority told Canadian broadcaster CBC News the body of Mr Thomas, a Canadian-born man who had been living in Antigua, had been recovered from the wreckage.
The BBC and some Italian newspapers initially reported his name as Ricardo Thomas.
Tributes have been paid to him by friends on Facebook, with one saying: “Rest in Power big man. I don’t know what else to say except I love you, and I always will.”
Another wrote: “Going to miss you so much Recaldo Thomas still finding this so hard to believe.”
Ayla Ronald
Ayla Ronald and her partner are two of the 15 who survived the yacht disaster, law firm Clifford Chance confirmed.
The 36-year-old worked defended Mr Lynch in court and was on the trip as part of the celebration for his acquittal.
Clifford Chance said in a statement: “Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident.”
She is originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, but lives in London, her father Lin Ronald told The Telegraph, saying she was “very shaken.”
Mr Ronald said that she was “invited to go sailing as a result of the success in the recent United States court case”.
Matthew
Ayla’s partner Matthew also survived the boat disaster. There is little more known about his background or condition.
Charlotte Golunski
Charlotte Golunski’s testimony of the ordeal on the ship were some of the first to be published after she was rescued along with her one-year-old daughter, Sofia.
She spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, confirming she survived the yacht sinking and told how she kept her daughter alive after she was rescued. She said: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning. It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
The 35-year-old is a partner at Invoke Capital, one of Mr Lynch’s law firms, and has worked there since 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile.
James Emsley
Ms Golunksi’s partner James Emsley was also rescued from the yacht, according to Sicily’s civil protection agency. There is little information on him, but it has been confirmed the 36-year-old is the father of her one-year-old daughter.
Sofia
One-year-old Sofia was rescued from the water by her mother and subsequently looked after in hospital.
Ms Golunski told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that her family survived only because they were on deck when the yacht sank after encountering a heavy storm.
Dr Domenico Cipolla told local media that the family have had a “physical and psychological upheaval of their lives.”
He said the hospital provided “toys for the baby, cuddles, and fed them because they were frightened and hungry”.
The family of three left the Di Cristina Children’s Hospital in a black van on Tuesday via a back entrance today. They were accompanied by an officer from the British embassy, who covered the family’s faces with a jacket to hide them from a huddle of photographers.
James Catfield
The captain of the superyacht James Catfield survived the horror and broke his silence on Tuesday with just five words.
He said: “We didn’t see it coming” and was described as “limp” as he waited outside an emergency room in the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese, according to local media.
Leo Eppel
The Italian coastguard confirmed on Tuesday evening that Leo Eppel, a crew member, also survived the yacht sinking.