(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) divers completed their underwater search of the incident site, on the North Shore of Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, around 12:30pm on Wednesday, May 8th, 2013.
(Related Link: Earlier report with details on the incident)
After exiting the water, divers met with local law enforcement personnel lead by Superintendent Ismella Davis to report on the extensive morning search, which included the assistance of local guide Paul Petty, who took the team of divers to locations not as easily reached by swimming. Mr. Petty, of Governor’s Harbour, to-date has been the only person to pilot a boat to the location. He braved rough waters on Monday with a police officer onboard and returned on Wednesday in calmer conditions to help with the RBDF divers.
RBPF Eleuthera, met with RBDF divers at the completion of their search at about midday.
After the initial consultation between local officers and the Defence Force divers, family members on the scene were asked to join the meeting, where Superintendent Davis informed them of where the divers had searched during the course of the morning, and described it as being a thorough underwater search of the waters surrounding the incident area – however, with no positive result – and no discovery of either of the missing men.
Highlighting the need for closure for the families, the community at large, as well as the police, Superintendent Davis stated that the investigation was still fully open, and that the search would go on, with local forces continuing to comb the shoreline.
(L-R) Ryan McCardy (28) of Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera, and the youngest son of the deceased Arrington and Merna McCardy is pictured in this composite photo with Mr. Johnson Blanc of Nassau.
With the calming of the seas and weather, Superintendent Davis said that police would also seek to partner with local fishermen and boat captains from north, central and south Eleuthera to aid in the continuing search for Ryan McCardy and Johnson Blanc.
Family members were encouraged to ask questions. The main query was about how long police would carry on the active search for the two missing young men, to which Superintendent Davis replied that the length of time of the search could not be answered at that time, and that police would continue the search until further conclusions were made or a decision between the families and the authorities were taken.
RBPF Eleuthera met with family members of Johnson Blanc (family on the left) and Ryan McCardy (family center) to discuss the status of their search.
Superintendent Davis also shared that she had submitted a report to the Commissioner of Police, and would be further guided by his instructions moving forward.
In a short interview following the meeting with the families, Superintendent Davis commented on how the process had been handled by the local force to date, saying, “Initially when we got the report on Sunday, our role was to inform ‘Police Control’ in Nassau and they would have made contact with BASRA, the Defence Force and all of the key areas that are responsible for search and rescue. On a daily basis, when we were finished, we would provide the ‘Police Control Room’ with a report and they would inform our strategic partners – so based on that, we were able to get the assistance of the Defence Force to come in.”
Davis continued, describing future actions, “I expect their [Defence Force divers] report to come to us in short order as to everything they would have done. Hopefully we will be able to – once the report is sent to the Commissioner – get some directives from the Commissioner on what else is needed to be done.
From the local side we will want to employ all of the resources that are available to us. From Sunday we had the challenge of the weather – today we seem to have a better day, so we hope to have some better days coming ahead, and we are able to engage the local fishermen and the boat captains from the surrounding areas to assist us with the search. They were prepared on Monday, but because of the weather, they did not want to take that chance. We are going to continue to work assiduously with the family, and with the local partners to resolve this so we will be able to bring closure to the community.”
When asked about whether the remainder of the investigation would be a search and recover, as supposed to a search and rescue, Supt. Davis answered, “I would not want to be quick to say that at this point. We will continue to look, and we will continue to explore all of the avenues that are available to us at this time. When it comes to that point when we have to make a conclusion, or a final decision, we will want to make that in conjunction with the partners and the families that are involved.”
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