The Coast Guard has suspended its search for Brandon Billmaier of the Shiner Law Group and his uncle, Fort Myers attorney Randall Spivey.
One of two men reported missing in a deep-sea fishing trip off the Southwest Florida coast is a Boca Raton-based attorney.
The Shiner Law Group issued a statement on Dec. 22 on the disappearance of Brandon Billmaier, 33, an associate with the firm since August 2023. The Coast Guard suspended its search for him and his uncle, Fort Myers attorney Randall Spivey, at sunset Dec. 21.
“Brandon is a valued member of our firm and someone we care about tremendously, both as a colleague and as our friend. Brandon is an exceptional person and a great lawyer, and we are heartbroken,” the statement said.
“This situation has been surreal; we continue to pray and hold onto hope for the safe return of Brandon and Randy as search efforts remain underway. We respectfully ask that the public keep Brandon Billmaier and Randy Spivey in their thoughts and prayers.”
The Coast Guard and its partner agencies searched about 6,700 square miles — an area about the size of the state of Connecticut — by air and sea before suspending the search. On-scene weather conditions included winds of about 10 mph and 3-foot seas.
“We saturated an incredibly large search area but, unfortunately, were unable to locate the two missing men,” Lt. Amy Harrison, a search and rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, said in a prepared statement.
Late on Dec. 19, searchers found Spivey’s boat, a 42-foot Freeman named “Unstopp-A-Bull,” floating upright in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the U.S. government as Gulf of America, about 70 miles off the coast of Naples near Marco Island and Flamingo.
There were no signs of either Billmaier or Spivey.
Volunteers are continuing to search and began looking on Dec. 22 in an area about 70 miles west and south-southwest of Fort Myers.
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Billmaier’s LinkedIn page said he is a member of the Florida Bar, American Bar Association, South Palm Beach County Bar Association, Broward County Bar Association and and Florida Justice Association. He is licensed to practice in Florida state courts and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Toledo.