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Unsolved mystery: 3 boaters 1 boat missing
This happened in 2003 out of my hometown of Naples, FL..
http://neileddleman.home.comcast.net/~neileddleman/
Brief explanation of what happened: A father and son went with a friend fishing out of Naples into the Gulf of Mexico....Went missing....The boat was found two weeks later on the east coast of Florida (Cape Canaveral) with the boat owner dead in the cabin...The other two remain missing....
It is still unsolved, but has intrigued me from day one. If anyone has any ideas as to what might have happened, your opinions are welcome.
The story is way fucked up, and long, so it will take some time to read...I'll start with the specifics from a message board that the mother has set up for people to discuss....
__________________________________________________ _________
neil alan = my 15 yr old son, lived with me
me, karen = neil alan's mom, custodial parent, person writing this
dad = neil alan's dad, my ex since neil alan was just over 1 yr (divorced due to dom. viol), non-custodial parent
gary = gary lisk, boat owner/capt, friend of neil's dad, found deceased in boat 11/02/03, cape canaveral. fl
ginger = gary lisk's daughter, living in tampa, fl., at the time
ellen = neil's dad's wife
R3 = nanette & larry hinnant, gary's "supposed" friends, appointed themselves as point-of-contact , after calling CG, media, etc...started private group, rescue three, in back bay of their auto mechanic shop, & online website (gone), to coordinate private effort, collect $$, etc..THO THEY ARE RELATED TO NO ONE!!!! gary was larry's AA sponsor
jeff = supposedly, guy who helped outfit gary's boat, supposed friend of gary, gary was his AA sponsor & counselor
FRIDAY OCTOBER 17, 2003
1 PM
Ginger ( Gary's daughter) receives phone call (in Tampa) from her dad to tell her that he will be visiting her for her birthday the following weekend. She gives him her new address. He tells her that he is going shark fishing. Gary is known to do this within 6 miles off shore down by Cape Romano and the 10 Thousand Islands.
4:20 PM
Neil Sr. picks up Neil for weekend visitation from mother's home.
BEFORE 5PM
Neil Jr. calls Briana (girlfriend) from his dad's cell phone while in car, saying he would probably be able to make it to her mom's friend's house for dinner, Sat. October 18 at 6 PM. ( Cutting his visit with dad short). Briana hears his dad in background saying, "If we make it in time."
5 PM
Supposed scheduled time of departure although no one saw the boat or anyone on the boat leave Gary's dock ( which was Gary's residential dock).
7 PM
There was a call made to Briana's number from Neil's dad's cell phone. No one is home at Briana's to answer the call and she didn't have an answering machine. Briana was not expecting anymore calls from Neil Jr. til the next day. The call was made at approximately 7PM 15 miles SW of Naples Tower.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 18, 2003
12 PM
Gary Lisk's PC's (home and office) totally corrupted (According to PC specialist,Gary's daughter Ginger hired.). Gary's door locks are changed and hard copy files (which contained financial and counseling records) from 1998 to 2003 are stolen.
Gary Lisk's profession is counseling.
5:30 PM
Briana calls me asking where Neil is, telling her that he had called on Friday and said he would be there. She calls a few more times. I tell her that I am not surprised that Neil Jr.'s dad did not let him curt his weekend visitation short. Not to worry.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 19, 2003
AM
Brianna calls me hysterical saying she called Neil's dads home and that his wife (Ellen Eddleman) was being nasty. I tell Brianna that I will call there ASAP and do so immediately. It is then that I find out that my son is on a boat, due in on Saturday at 5 PM and that they are not back yet but not to worry. Ellen tells me that there was ship to shore radio contact at 7AM Sunday morning and that at that time they were 12 hours from home. I call Ellen continuously throughout the day.
1 PM\
Coast Guard was called by Larry Hinannt (supposed to be a real good friend of Gary's), and gives the Coast Guard a "Float Plan" with "supposed destination" of California Shipwreck which is 66 miles out and not a shark fishing site.
7PM
I call again to Ellen and ask where Neil Jr. is at and am told that there was no radio contact, they are not back yet and that the Coast Guard was called.
__________________________________________________ _______________________
* When R3 is used below, it refers to Nanette Meaux & Larry Hinnant, married at the time, divorced right after.
a) R3 gave USCG a “float plan” giving his destination as the “Calif. Wreck”, 66 miles out, telling them Gary Lisk had given it to them, prior to boat departure, when in fact, Larry admitted he made it on his own PC & didn’t see them actually depart, but instead saw Gary & Neil Wayne at a noon AA mtg. R3 told media that Neil’s wife had made the initial call to the USCG, when in actuality it was Larry who called them abt 1 pm Sun. afternoon. According to people who regularly boated with Gary, he was NEVER known to leave “float plans” or notes on his door, when going out on his boat.
b) No one, in fact, chose to notify Neil Alan’s mom that there even was a boating trip, let alone that they were overdue. It was only due to Neil Alan’s girlfriend that his mom, Karen, called Neil Wayne’s wife, on Sunday morn. At that time she was lied to, by her, & told that “there had been ship-to-shore radio contact, early that morn, abt 7am, & that they were 12 hrs out. At 6pm, Karen found out that she had been lied to, & was then told there had been NO radio contact. Had it not been for this lie, Karen would have called the USCG early on sun. morn. When Karen did contact authorities, regarding her son, she was told they would send someone to take a report. Karen is still waiting for that “someone”! When she contacted USCG, she was told that Nanette Hinnant had named herself as point-of-contact for the families!
c) Ginger Cullison, Gary’s daughter, spoke with her dad, earlier that day & he told her he was going “shark-fishing”. It is very well known that the “Calif wreck” site is a dive spot/grouper fishing area, not, at all, known for “shark” fishing. Gary is known to do this within 6 miles off shore, down by Cape Romano and the 10 Thousand Islands.
d) At the time of her conversation, with her dad, Ginger gave him her new address, for a potential visit the following weekend, that he planned to make. He wrote this info, on an envelope, which would later show up on the back of a note found on the exterior of his door, upon her arrival here from Tampa, on Tues., 10/21, the day she was notified. Upon finding the note, she immediately knew it was not her dad’s handwriting, as did the rest of his family. She also knew her dad would never put a note on the exterior of his door, with all of her personal info, on the reverse side, for anyone to find. Why were No forensics, etc., done, nor the note even taken by NPD?
e) In addition to the note, she arrived to the door lock on his home being changed. She immediately went to police, who took her down to the R3 “headquarters”, which R3 had chosen to set up at the Hinnant’s business. (An interesting note, the Hinnant’s were the ones who had called the USCG, & tried to make themselves the point of contact for all family members, without even speaking with families. This caused much confusion with the USCG ). She was taken there, by Det. Principe, to retrieve a key for the new lock, which was in the possession of R3, who had changed the door locks. They tried to forbid Gary’s daughter entry to his home. Again, why were no forensics done?
f) Upon entry, Ginger found items missing from her dad’s home, in addition to his files stolen, & both his home & office PCs totally corrupted. According to a PC expert, that she (NOT the POLICE) later hired, which police knew that she did, the corruption was done around noon, on Sat. (FIVE HOURS prior to their supposed scheduled return from trip). Again, why no forensics?
g) R3 alerted the media, Nov 1, 2003 that they had sent someone out, off Marco Island, to retrieve their “test boat”, then declared it stolen/vanished, despite having reconciled with USCG, 2 days before, Oct 30, that the EPIRB from that test boat, had emitted a signal 30 mi WEST of Charlotte Harbor. Again, no investigation?
h) Gary was found, dead, in his overturned, beached boat, 2 wks later, 550 mi away, at Patrick Air Base, Cape Canaveral, by land-based security guard. Despite the difficulty of steering a manned vessel, let alone an unmanned “drifting” vessel, thru the Keys, the unrelated-to-this-case drift studies done by the University of Florida showing the improbability, the fact that the largest USCG search in FL was underway, the fact that Gary’s autopsy showed NO water &/or debris in his lungs & a severed spinal cord, behind the lung area, (which other MEs, neurosurgeons, MDs have all said this is NOT the type of injury that could happen from a boat turning over, or bouncing in waves, esp in light of no head/neck injuries & his necklace still being on his neck, but rather have ALL said BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA), the fact that Gary’s weight, on the autopsy, was abt. 100 lbs LESS than his actual weight & that he was missing teeth POST-MORTEM (after-death), that the boat remained surprisingly intact, except for all his radio/emergency equipment being gone, that not one iota of anything relating to the Eddlemans was found with the boat…no investigation?
i) R3 repeatedly REFUSED to give an accounting of any donation monies rcvd by them. Nanette denied monies to both Lisk’s daughter & Neil Alan’s mom for search related activities, at the time. In Dec. 2003, Nanette incorporated R3 (for-profit), & 2 other dummy for-profit corporations, on the same day. Not long after, she filed for bankruptcy:
Anyone have any idea as to what might have happened???
http://neileddleman.home.comcast.net/~neileddleman/
Brief explanation of what happened: A father and son went with a friend fishing out of Naples into the Gulf of Mexico....Went missing....The boat was found two weeks later on the east coast of Florida (Cape Canaveral) with the boat owner dead in the cabin...The other two remain missing....
It is still unsolved, but has intrigued me from day one. If anyone has any ideas as to what might have happened, your opinions are welcome.
The story is way fucked up, and long, so it will take some time to read...I'll start with the specifics from a message board that the mother has set up for people to discuss....
__________________________________________________ _________
neil alan = my 15 yr old son, lived with me
me, karen = neil alan's mom, custodial parent, person writing this
dad = neil alan's dad, my ex since neil alan was just over 1 yr (divorced due to dom. viol), non-custodial parent
gary = gary lisk, boat owner/capt, friend of neil's dad, found deceased in boat 11/02/03, cape canaveral. fl
ginger = gary lisk's daughter, living in tampa, fl., at the time
ellen = neil's dad's wife
R3 = nanette & larry hinnant, gary's "supposed" friends, appointed themselves as point-of-contact , after calling CG, media, etc...started private group, rescue three, in back bay of their auto mechanic shop, & online website (gone), to coordinate private effort, collect $$, etc..THO THEY ARE RELATED TO NO ONE!!!! gary was larry's AA sponsor
jeff = supposedly, guy who helped outfit gary's boat, supposed friend of gary, gary was his AA sponsor & counselor
FRIDAY OCTOBER 17, 2003
1 PM
Ginger ( Gary's daughter) receives phone call (in Tampa) from her dad to tell her that he will be visiting her for her birthday the following weekend. She gives him her new address. He tells her that he is going shark fishing. Gary is known to do this within 6 miles off shore down by Cape Romano and the 10 Thousand Islands.
4:20 PM
Neil Sr. picks up Neil for weekend visitation from mother's home.
BEFORE 5PM
Neil Jr. calls Briana (girlfriend) from his dad's cell phone while in car, saying he would probably be able to make it to her mom's friend's house for dinner, Sat. October 18 at 6 PM. ( Cutting his visit with dad short). Briana hears his dad in background saying, "If we make it in time."
5 PM
Supposed scheduled time of departure although no one saw the boat or anyone on the boat leave Gary's dock ( which was Gary's residential dock).
7 PM
There was a call made to Briana's number from Neil's dad's cell phone. No one is home at Briana's to answer the call and she didn't have an answering machine. Briana was not expecting anymore calls from Neil Jr. til the next day. The call was made at approximately 7PM 15 miles SW of Naples Tower.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 18, 2003
12 PM
Gary Lisk's PC's (home and office) totally corrupted (According to PC specialist,Gary's daughter Ginger hired.). Gary's door locks are changed and hard copy files (which contained financial and counseling records) from 1998 to 2003 are stolen.
Gary Lisk's profession is counseling.
5:30 PM
Briana calls me asking where Neil is, telling her that he had called on Friday and said he would be there. She calls a few more times. I tell her that I am not surprised that Neil Jr.'s dad did not let him curt his weekend visitation short. Not to worry.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 19, 2003
AM
Brianna calls me hysterical saying she called Neil's dads home and that his wife (Ellen Eddleman) was being nasty. I tell Brianna that I will call there ASAP and do so immediately. It is then that I find out that my son is on a boat, due in on Saturday at 5 PM and that they are not back yet but not to worry. Ellen tells me that there was ship to shore radio contact at 7AM Sunday morning and that at that time they were 12 hours from home. I call Ellen continuously throughout the day.
1 PM\
Coast Guard was called by Larry Hinannt (supposed to be a real good friend of Gary's), and gives the Coast Guard a "Float Plan" with "supposed destination" of California Shipwreck which is 66 miles out and not a shark fishing site.
7PM
I call again to Ellen and ask where Neil Jr. is at and am told that there was no radio contact, they are not back yet and that the Coast Guard was called.
__________________________________________________ _______________________
* When R3 is used below, it refers to Nanette Meaux & Larry Hinnant, married at the time, divorced right after.
a) R3 gave USCG a “float plan” giving his destination as the “Calif. Wreck”, 66 miles out, telling them Gary Lisk had given it to them, prior to boat departure, when in fact, Larry admitted he made it on his own PC & didn’t see them actually depart, but instead saw Gary & Neil Wayne at a noon AA mtg. R3 told media that Neil’s wife had made the initial call to the USCG, when in actuality it was Larry who called them abt 1 pm Sun. afternoon. According to people who regularly boated with Gary, he was NEVER known to leave “float plans” or notes on his door, when going out on his boat.
b) No one, in fact, chose to notify Neil Alan’s mom that there even was a boating trip, let alone that they were overdue. It was only due to Neil Alan’s girlfriend that his mom, Karen, called Neil Wayne’s wife, on Sunday morn. At that time she was lied to, by her, & told that “there had been ship-to-shore radio contact, early that morn, abt 7am, & that they were 12 hrs out. At 6pm, Karen found out that she had been lied to, & was then told there had been NO radio contact. Had it not been for this lie, Karen would have called the USCG early on sun. morn. When Karen did contact authorities, regarding her son, she was told they would send someone to take a report. Karen is still waiting for that “someone”! When she contacted USCG, she was told that Nanette Hinnant had named herself as point-of-contact for the families!
c) Ginger Cullison, Gary’s daughter, spoke with her dad, earlier that day & he told her he was going “shark-fishing”. It is very well known that the “Calif wreck” site is a dive spot/grouper fishing area, not, at all, known for “shark” fishing. Gary is known to do this within 6 miles off shore, down by Cape Romano and the 10 Thousand Islands.
d) At the time of her conversation, with her dad, Ginger gave him her new address, for a potential visit the following weekend, that he planned to make. He wrote this info, on an envelope, which would later show up on the back of a note found on the exterior of his door, upon her arrival here from Tampa, on Tues., 10/21, the day she was notified. Upon finding the note, she immediately knew it was not her dad’s handwriting, as did the rest of his family. She also knew her dad would never put a note on the exterior of his door, with all of her personal info, on the reverse side, for anyone to find. Why were No forensics, etc., done, nor the note even taken by NPD?
e) In addition to the note, she arrived to the door lock on his home being changed. She immediately went to police, who took her down to the R3 “headquarters”, which R3 had chosen to set up at the Hinnant’s business. (An interesting note, the Hinnant’s were the ones who had called the USCG, & tried to make themselves the point of contact for all family members, without even speaking with families. This caused much confusion with the USCG ). She was taken there, by Det. Principe, to retrieve a key for the new lock, which was in the possession of R3, who had changed the door locks. They tried to forbid Gary’s daughter entry to his home. Again, why were no forensics done?
f) Upon entry, Ginger found items missing from her dad’s home, in addition to his files stolen, & both his home & office PCs totally corrupted. According to a PC expert, that she (NOT the POLICE) later hired, which police knew that she did, the corruption was done around noon, on Sat. (FIVE HOURS prior to their supposed scheduled return from trip). Again, why no forensics?
g) R3 alerted the media, Nov 1, 2003 that they had sent someone out, off Marco Island, to retrieve their “test boat”, then declared it stolen/vanished, despite having reconciled with USCG, 2 days before, Oct 30, that the EPIRB from that test boat, had emitted a signal 30 mi WEST of Charlotte Harbor. Again, no investigation?
h) Gary was found, dead, in his overturned, beached boat, 2 wks later, 550 mi away, at Patrick Air Base, Cape Canaveral, by land-based security guard. Despite the difficulty of steering a manned vessel, let alone an unmanned “drifting” vessel, thru the Keys, the unrelated-to-this-case drift studies done by the University of Florida showing the improbability, the fact that the largest USCG search in FL was underway, the fact that Gary’s autopsy showed NO water &/or debris in his lungs & a severed spinal cord, behind the lung area, (which other MEs, neurosurgeons, MDs have all said this is NOT the type of injury that could happen from a boat turning over, or bouncing in waves, esp in light of no head/neck injuries & his necklace still being on his neck, but rather have ALL said BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA), the fact that Gary’s weight, on the autopsy, was abt. 100 lbs LESS than his actual weight & that he was missing teeth POST-MORTEM (after-death), that the boat remained surprisingly intact, except for all his radio/emergency equipment being gone, that not one iota of anything relating to the Eddlemans was found with the boat…no investigation?
i) R3 repeatedly REFUSED to give an accounting of any donation monies rcvd by them. Nanette denied monies to both Lisk’s daughter & Neil Alan’s mom for search related activities, at the time. In Dec. 2003, Nanette incorporated R3 (for-profit), & 2 other dummy for-profit corporations, on the same day. Not long after, she filed for bankruptcy:
Anyone have any idea as to what might have happened???
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