CLINTON, Conn. (AP) – Search crews pulled a woman’s body from Long Island Sound Wednesday afternoon, nearly 12 hours after the boat she’d been fishing on was found capsized four miles from shore, Coast Guard officials said.
Her fishing partner, a former co-worker, was still missing.
The 44-year-old woman was wearing a life jacket, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison.
Her husband reported her missing early Wednesday after she failed to return from the fishing trip. The capsized 19-foot pleasure boat, anchored in about 25 feet of water, was discovered around 5:30 a.m. and towed to shore Wednesday afternoon. The body was found about 4:30 p.m., about 3 miles south of the boat, Rorison said.
The boaters, identified as Arthur Turner, 48, and Irina Sheyner, 44, both of West Hartford, left Clinton Harbor around 9 a.m. Tuesday. Sheyner’s husband, Greg Sheffer, reported them missing at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, triggering a massive search that included water and air crews from the Coast Guard, state and local police and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
“I’m beside myself,” Sheffer said, breaking down crying. “I don’t know how I’m going to live without her. She was my best friend. God must have needed an angel.”
Sheyner was a registered nurse at Hughes Health and Rehabilitation Inc. in West Hartford, where her co-workers closely monitored news reports on the rescue effort Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the convalescent home said Turner had worked at the facility as a licensed practical nurse.
Sheyner came to the U.S. in 1990 from Ukraine not speaking any English and worked her way up from housekeeper to a supervising position, her husband said. He said his wife would stop on the way to work to buy chapstick or whatever else residents wanted, using her own money.
“Everyone there thinks of her as an angel,” Sheffer said. “Everybody is in shock right now. She was just one of those people who gave and never takes.”
Sheffer, who worked for printing companies, said he suffered a back injury but a surgeon did not want to operate because he lived alone and had no one to care for him. Sheyner was living with a member from his band and invited him to live with them, he said.
The couple married nearly a decade ago, Sheffer said.
“For me it was love at first sight,” Sheffer said.
Turner also was a dedicated nurse, Sheffer said.
“They’ve been fishing together for a long time,” said Sheffer, who does not fish. “She just loved to fish. They wouldn’t talk to each other. They would just fish.”
Sheffer said he had no reason to suspect foul play or that alcohol was involved.
“My wife was not a drinker. Neither was Arthur,” Sheffer said.
They were due back in by sunset, but Sheyner did not show up Tuesday night at her job.
The state Department of Environmental Protection identified Turner as the owner and operator of the boat.
Coast Guard officials said Turner frequently took people on fishing trips.
The Coast Guard said the weather Tuesday was relatively mild and there were no small craft warnings.
The search included crews from four shoreline towns, along with state Department of Environmental Protection police and state police. Two helicopters and a rescue jet joined the search, and the Coast Guard Cutter Chinook was dispatched from New London.
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Associated Press Writers Susan Haigh and Pat Eaton-Robb in Hartford contributed to this report.
AP-ES-10-17-07 1830EDT
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