The Coast Guard said it had found four additional bodies in its search for dozens of migrants lost at sea off Florida. From the Associated Press.
Homeland Security Investigations officials said they were actively investigating the case as a human smuggling operation.Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian said the decision to suspend the search at sunset Thursday, pending any new discoveries, was not an easy one.
The Miami office of Homeland Security Investigations said it believes the overturned boat a man was found clinging to on Tuesday was part of a human smuggling operation and they have launched an investigation to determine who was behind it. Under federal law, a smuggler convicted of causing a death is eligible for execution.
The lone survivor was found hanging onto the 25-foot vessel about 40 miles off Fort Pierce, Florida. He told a good Samaritan and authorities that the boat capsized late Saturday after he and 39 others had set out for Florida from Bimini, a chain of islands in the Bahamas about 55 miles east of Miami.
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