Bodies Found off Coast of Italy Believed to be Missing Balloonists Richard Abruzzo & Carol Rymer Davis

Missing American balloonists found …

The bodies found by fisherman off the coast of Italy are believed to be those of missing balloonists Richard Abruzzo & Carol Rymer Davis. The bodies were located deep underwater, about a mile from the last location that the two missing balloonists were reported located on radar. Their bodies were still in the balloon gondola when was hauled from the water by a fishing boat.  According to reports, documents discovered with one of the bodies led authorities to say that they are two Americans who went missing at the end of September 2010 while participating in the 54th Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race.

Documents discovered with one of the bodies led authorities to say that they are two Americans who went missing at the end of September. But the victims’ families are on the way to Bari, Italy, to officially identify the bodies, the Port of Bari Command Center said.

Richard Abruzzo of New Mexico and Carol Rymer-Davis of Colorado lost contact with officials during a race after the balloon carrying them made a rapid descent during rough weather. Race organizers had said such conditions would make their survival “unlikely.”

Fishermen found their bodies in the Adriatic Sea, roughly a mile from the location where their balloon was last spotted on radar tracking, according to the port’s command center.

Italian coast guard teams combed the water’s surface in the area during their search mission, but the command center said the bodies were found in the “depths of the sea water” around 1 a.m. Monday.