After four agonizing days searching the waters off Fort Myers for two missing boaters, Randall Spivey (57) and Brandon Billmaier (33), the U.S. Coast Guard made the heartbreaking decision to suspend the search on Monday evening.
Just hours before that announcement, ABC7 spoke with Randall Spivey Jr., the son of the missing man. Still in shock, he said he never imagined something like this could happen to his father or his cousin. His dad, he explained, has gone fishing every couple of weeks for decades and is one of the most experienced, cautious boaters he knows.
The moment that shattered everything came with a phone call from the Coast Guard: the boat had been found — but it was empty.
“It was the worst phone call of my life,” Spivey said, describing the indescribable pain felt by him and his mother. The discovery immediately raised terrifying questions about what could have gone so wrong that both men ended up in the water.
Spivey believes they were wearing life vests, noting that a white life ring was missing from the boat. How they fell overboard remains a mystery.
Despite the search being suspended, one thing is certain: the family is not giving up.
“We’ll keep searching as long as it takes,” Spivey said. “Until we bring them home.”
***************
After a 4-day search for 2 missing boaters, Randall Spivey, 57, and Brandon Billmaier, 33, offshore of Fort Myers, the U.S. Coast Guard made a tough decision to suspend the search Monday evening.
ABC7 spoke with the son of Randall Spivey, also named Randall Spivey, before the search was suspended on Monday. He said he never imagined something like this could happen to his dad or his cousin, adding that his dad goes fishing about every two weeks and has been for decades.
Spivey described what went through his head when he received that call from the coast guard that they found his dad’s boat, but his dad and cousin weren’t onboard.
“It was, as you can imagine, tragic. It was the worst few hours of my life and the worst phone call of my life. I know my mom would agree if you could have heard how she reacted to that. I wouldn’t wish that feeling on anybody. It’s pretty indescribable. My thoughts after hearing that they found the boat and something went, that, you know, something had to have gone very seriously wrong for that, for them to both end up in the water like that,” said Spivey.
Spivey said he does believe that they were wearing life vests and had a white life ring with them because it was missing from the boat when the Coast Guard located their vessel.
There are still unanswered questions on how Spivey and Billmaier ended up in the water. Spivey’s son said something must have gone terribly wrong for his dad and cousin to fall into the water.
“You know, nobody knows. You know, my dad is the safest, most experienced boater that you could imagine. You know, whatever happened was a one-in-a-million occurrence. I’ve been out there hundreds of times with him in my life. And I can’t even think of a scenario that makes sense. I mean, my dad and Brandon both know how to properly handle emergency situations in a safe way. It’s never the type of thing where, you know, somebody’s diving in the water after somebody else. You know, that just doesn’t happen,” said Spivey.
But what Spivey does know is that he won’t stop searching until he finds his dad and cousin.
“We’re going to continue to search as long as it takes until we get them home,” said Spivey.