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Authorities are desperately searching for a 7-year-old boy after his father and a family friend were found dead in a bay where the trio went boating near Dauphin Island in Alabama Friday.
Little Hunter Slezak still hasn’t been recovered three days after he went out on his first shrimping trip on Pelican Bay with his dad and a friend on a 22-foot vessel, authorities and family said.
Coast Guard rescue crews found the bodies of Michael Slezak, 40, and Sam Wooley, 69, among a debris field Saturday about nine miles south of the island before suspending their search Sunday.
Now, the search for Hunter will continue solely by local authorities, the grieving family and volunteers.
“I just need the closure of having his body to bury. I didn’t think my heart could shatter anymore than this but not at least being able to find my son’s body is so incredibly painful,” Megan Slezak, the boy’s grieving mother and Michael’s widow said in a Facebook post Sunday.
It’s unclear what happened to the boat, but the family said the three were involved in a boating accident.
While the sheriff’s office was combing over the water, family and volunteers were walking along the shoreline in hopes of finding the youngster, WKRG reported Monday.
“Hunter was such a sweet boy,” the boy’s aunt, Adrienne Migill, told the station. “He just always had a smile on his face.”
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said Monday that once the Coast Guard determined it was no longer a rescue mission, the federal agency decided to end their search. But the top cop vowed to continue to use local resources to find the young boy.
The shrimp boat has also not been recovered yet, he said.
Burch said he spoke with a local shrimper who knew the other victim, Wooley, and who believes the boat might have capsized.
“And that Hunter may be inside the cabin,” he said during a news conference.
“We do understand the mom wants her son recovered so she can say a proper goodbye,” Burch continued. “We will extend all resources that we have to help accomplish that.”
Before the Coast Guard stopped its search, it scoured 2,042 square miles over 65 hours, the military branch said.
“We are deeply saddened and offer our sincerest condolences to the families, friends, and communities affected by this heartbreaking and tragic incident,” Capt. Robert Tucker, of Coast Guard Sector Mobile, said in a statement.
“Suspending an active search for a missing child is an exceptionally difficult decision and is only made after the most exhaustive efforts have occurred,”
Michael Slezak, who leaves behind four other children and worked as a teacher and a coach at a local middle school, called his wife about 3:30 p.m. Friday to tell her the trio was going to stay out another hour because of all the shrimp they were catching, a family member wrote in a fundraising page.
“The Slezak family is grieving the loss of their husband and father, and their precious only son and brother,” according to the GoFundMe post. “Michael and his wife, Megan, had plans to live a long and full life on their farm.
“Now, those plans have been derailed, and Megan is trying to pick up the pieces and ensure her daughters’ needs are met for now and the future, all while grieving.”
