Search and rescue crews are searching for a missing
7-year-old boy after finding the bodies of his father and a family friend. The three were boating near Dauphin Island in Alabama when their
boat capsized.
It’s been three days since the tragic accident. 7-year-old Hunter Slezak went on his first shrimping trip with his father and his father’s friend on Pelican Bay. However, a boating accident left Michael Slezak and Sam Wooley dead and Hunter missing.
“I just need the closure of having his body to bury. I didn’t think my heart could shatter anymore than this but not at least being able to find my son’s body is so incredibly painful,” Megan Slezak, the mother of the 7-year-old boy and now widow wrote.
“Hunter was such a sweet boy,” the boy’s aunt, Adrienne Migill, said. “He just always had a smile on his face.”
Unfortunately, the Coast Guard have determined it is no longer a rescue mission and ended its search. However, local authorities are determined to recover the boy’s body, according to mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch. He theorizes that the boy may be inside the cabin of the still not recovered shrimping boat.
7-Year-Old Missing
“And that Hunter may be inside the cabin,” he said during a news conference. “We do understand the mom wants her son recovered so she can say a proper goodbye. We will extend all resources that we have to help accomplish that.”
The Coast Guard announced it was suspending the search.
“We are deeply saddened and offer our sincerest condolences to the families, friends, and communities affected by this heartbreaking and tragic incident,” Capt. Robert Tucker, of Coast Guard Sector Mobile, said in a statement. “Suspending an active search for a missing child is an exceptionally difficult decision and is only made after the most exhaustive efforts have occurr
The family is mourning the loss of both Michael and Hunter following the boating accident.
“The Slezak family is grieving the loss of their husband and father. And their precious only son and brother,” according to the GoFundMe post. “Michael and his wife, Megan, had plans to live a long and full life on their farm. Now, those plans have been derailed. And Megan is trying to pick up the pieces and ensure her daughters’ needs are met for now and the future, all while grieving.”
