Kent Couple Among Those Missing After Superyacht Sank Near Sicily

KENT, CT — The New York lawyer and his wife who are among the six victims after a luxury yacht sank Monday off the coast of Sicily own a home in South Kent.

Christopher Morvillo, 59, and his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo, 57, held residences in both New York City, where they worked, and Kent, according to multiple reports.

From 1999 to 2005, Morvillo served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he investigated, tried and handled appeals in the areas of health care fraud, insurance fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, counter-terrorism, and narcotics. He also assisted in the criminal investigation arising out of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to his online bio on the website of his employer, law firm Clifford Chance.

Fifteen people escaped in a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby sailboat shortly after the yacht sank, AP reported. A body was also retrieved near the vessel and later identified as the chef, Ricardo Thomas, according to Reuters. On Thursday, five more bodies were reported recovered. A sixth remains missing.

Also among the victims is tech tycoon and the yacht's owner, Mike Lynch, 59, sometimes described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was numbered among the five bodies recovered from the wreckage in an Associated Press report.

Morvillo and his wife were aboard Lynch's superyacht celebrating his legal victory in one of the biggest fraud trials in Silicon Valley history.

One unidentified woman remains missing, according to AP. Hannah Lynch, Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, is reportedly unaccounted for.

Civil protection officials said they believe the ship, the Bayesian, a 184-foot British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early Monday as it was moored about a half a mile off the coast of Sicily, according to AP. The ship carried a crew of 10, with 12 passengers when it sank around 4 a.m. on Monday.

In a statement made Thursday, a spokesperson for Clifford Chance said the firm was "heartbroken at the tragic passing of our partner, Christopher Morvillo and his wife, Neda."

"We are deeply saddened and still coming to terms with this terrible loss," the firm continued. "Our utmost priority is to continue to support Chris’s family at this very distressing time. Our thoughts extend to the families and loved ones of all those affected," The Wall Street Journal reported.