"Joe Cool" Charter Yacht hijacked - Crew Missing, Miami, FL Sept. 2007 All deceased.

[sharon]

This is real wierd -- I wasn't sure if it belonged in Missing Persons, though. I'll post a few articles from today and yesterday


http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/250018.html

Ex-wife brings new intrigue in ghost boat case
Posted on Tue, Sep. 25, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com


Two men plucked from a life raft in the Florida Straits after the boat they chartered was abandoned met more than 10 years ago when one was a boy in Cuba and the other was a military police investigator at Guantánamo Bay, according to the former soldier's ex-wife.

The account from Michelle Rowe, whose ex-husband, Kirby Logan Archer, was found at sea in a life raft Monday, adds a new layer of intrigue to a deepening mystery.

The four-member crew of the charter boat Joe Cool is still missing, two days after the U.S. Coast Guard found the charter vessel in the Florida Straits, about 40 miles north of Cuba.

Relatives of the crew members fear they were forced to abandon the vessel.

Archer, who was found in the raft with Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, of Hialeah, is wanted in connection with the January theft of $92,600 from an Arkansas Wal-Mart where he worked as an assistant manager.

No charges have been filed against anyone and the search is on-going.

Rowe, who divorced Archer in 2005, said she last saw her ex-husband in January. Arkansas court records show that their divorce was bitter; she alleged that they moved to Arkansas in December 2003 because Archer was AWOL from the Army, something he later confirmed in his testimony. The AWOL matter was resolved and he was discharged from the military.

She also testified that, after they separated in 2003, she entered into a lesbian relationship and that Archer had begun a homosexual relationship with a man named Greg, and that Archer ``was also with five or six other gay men during that time.''

The testimony is summarized in a Arkansas court of appeal order of Jan. 31, 2006, that kept the couple's two children in the custody of Archer.

Archer testified that he was not gay -- but Rowe testified that he was and that one of his relationships was with a boy who was still in high school.

Rowe told The Miami Herald that her ex-husband met Zarabozo, then a boy, at Guantánamo Naval Base where Archer was stationed as a military police investigator with the U.S. Army in the mid 1990s.

At the time, Zarabozo's family was among thousands of Cubans who had tried to leave the island on rafts. They had apparently been intercepted at sea and taken to the base, where Archer took an interest in the rafter boy, then 6 or 7 years old.

''He told me about the boy. He said he took him under his wing. He stayed in touch with him all this time,'' Rowe said.

She said Zarabozo ''even came to visit him in Arkansas.'' He stayed with Archer, she said.

After he became a fugitive, ''I think he picked up that boy and they decided to head to Cuba to start a new life,'' Rowe said.

Coast Guard officials say that the GPS navigational device onboard the Joe Cool indicated that it was headed from Miami Beach to Bimini, then made a sudden turn south toward Cuba about 35 miles out.

Rowe said she called authorities in Miami to alert them about her ex after reading on MiamiHerald.com that he had been found at sea.

''I'm not a scorned lover, but he's a piece of s..t,'' she said. ``And people should know.''

[sharon]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/249678.html


Ghost ship arrives in Miami; search for crew widens

Posted on Tue, Sep. 25, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY LUISA YANEZ, JAWEED KALEEM AND EVAN S. BENN
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

AL DIAZ/MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Upon arrival of the charter boat Joe Cool to the Coast Guard station in Miami, agents took two men into a building at the station. Both men's heads were covered with gray blankets. It wasn't clear who the men were, but authorities have been questioning two men who chartered the Joe Cool on Saturday.

The charter boat Joe Cool, which is at the heart of a high seas mystery, was towed Tuesday to the Coast Guard station in Miami -- still without its missing crew, but with FBI agents aboard.

Upon arrival, agents took two men from a separate boat into a building at the station -- both men's heads were covered with gray blankets. It wasn't clear who the men were, but authorities have been questioning two men who chartered the Joe Cool on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the FBI, investigating the disappearance of four crew members and the discovery of two passengers adrift on a life raft, is examining the vessel for clues.

An ocean search for the four missing boaters, by air and by sea, continues, although the coordinates of the search have changed. The focus has expanded and now includes the area stretching from due east of Miami Beach to as far north as Palm Beach County.

Authorities believe that whatever happened on the boat took place about 1 ½ hours into the voyage.

The Joe Cool, a 47-foot sport fishing yacht, was found Sunday afternoon, a ghost ship floating near the Cay Sal Bank. No one was on board.

The two charter clients have been identified as Kirby Logan Archer, 47, of Strawberry, Ark. -- on the lam and accused of stealing $92,600 from the Wal-Mart were he worked as an assistant manager -- and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, of Hialeah.

The two were found Monday morning floating on a life raft 12 miles north of the drifting boat. The Coast Guard is not sure why they abandoned the vessel, or whether the boat broke down or simply ran out of fuel.

''Those two jerks probably didn't know how to run the boat so they had to get off it,'' said Jeff Branam, whose family operates the charter boat.

Archer and Zarabozo were being questioned Monday by the FBI onboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. The FBI in Miami was tight-lipped about the case.

''We handle crimes on the the high seas and there might be the potential for that here, but that's all we can say,'' FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said Monday.

The main question in this high-seas mystery: What happened to the crew of the Joe Cool -- Capt. Jake Branam, 27; his wife Kelley Branam; his half-brother, Scott Campbell, 30; and Samuel Kairy, 27?

Jeff Branam, Jake Branam's uncle, fears they may have been forced overboard or worse.

''I think that Kirby Archer pirated our boat,'' Branam said. ``Now, the best-case scenario is if they gave my nephew and the others onboard life jackets and told them to swim for it.''

Orihuela would not elaborate on what happened to the crew, all of whom were last seen as they sailed out Saturday from the Miami Beach Marina behind Monty's headed for Bimini with their customers.

The Joe Cool's GPS navigational system reveals it was headed steadily for Bimini, then made a sudden, erratic turn south toward Cuba.

When the vessel failed to return to Miami Beach Sunday, Jeff Branam called the Coast Guard. They found the usually ship-shape vessel abandoned 40 miles north of Cuba. They also found signs of distress.

The boat ''was in total disarray,'' said Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge. ``Things were thrown around everywhere.''

Its location was also troubling.

''It's a mystery because the Gulf Stream flows north and this is nowhere near where they intended to go,'' Judge said.

Arkansas authorities have been seeking Archer since January.

Police say that on Jan. 26, Archer, a trusted assistant manager at the Wal-Mart store in Batesville, Ark., used a cart to collect the money trays from cash registers and took it to a back room.

He then asked permission to leave work early. A surveillance video showed that Archer purchased a microwave oven that night as he walked out of the store -- the last time he was spotted in Batesville.

Police said the money likely was stashed inside the microwave.

Capt. Bill Lindsey of the Independence County Sheriff's Department in Arkansas said it wasn't a total surprise that Archer would be in South Florida, near Cuba.

''He served in the military -- in Guantánamo Naval Base -- and we thought at one point, he might be heading that way,'' Lindsey said.

Archer's name had been entered in a national crime computer, he said, and ``if he had taken a plane, he would have set off alarms.''

Archer's whereabouts were discovered by chance.

In Batesville on Monday, someone on the Internet read a news story about the Joe Cool having gone missing and saw the name of the two men rescued, Archer and Zarabozo.

''Someone saw his name on a story and called us,'' Lindsey said. ``We contacted the Coast Guard there, and they hooked us up with the FBI.''

Lindsey is sure the FBI has his wanted fugitive.

''We are not 100 percent it's him, but we're pretty sure,'' Lindsey said. ``We didn't have his fingerprints so we have to wait for the military to run him. But he apparently gave his real name. I don't know why.''

It's not clear how Archer and Zarabozo became acquainted. Attempts Monday to reach his relatives in South Florida were unsuccessful.

Archer and Zarabozo did not set off any alarms Saturday when they showed up at the marina next to MacArthur Causeway looking for a boat to charter to Bimini, said Jeff Branam.

''They said they had a couple of girls waiting for them in Bimini and wanted to get there; they just wanted to be dropped off,'' he said. ``They paid me $4,000.''

Saturday night, Branam said he did not hear from his nephew, his wife or any of the other crew members.

''I thought he got busy with the boat or something. But then he was supposed to be back by noon to get ready for the Monday charter.'' He called the Coast Guard on Sunday.

Jake and Kelly Branam, who live on Star Island, have two young children, a 3-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old son relatives are caring for.

Branam relatives said that at daybreak they will hire private helicopters to join in the official search. ''We just can't sit here and do nothing,'' Jeff Branam said late Monday.

It's not the first time this year the Joe Cool had been in the news. In May, its crew helped rescue an Aventura family after the family's sailboat began to sink.

Six boaters aboard the $1.2 million sailboat noticed the vessel taking on a lot of water about 10 miles off Government Cut. As Miami-Dade and Coast Guard rescuers rushed to the location, the Joe Cool crew also picked up the Mayday call and raced to help.

The sailboat sank, but the family -- including an infant and a 9-year-old -- was saved, in part thanks to the efforts of the Joe Cool crew.

[MuffyBee]

Sharon I saw this story too, and debated whether to post it here.  There are people missing and it doesn't look good.  From what I gather, there is a lot that does and can go on out on the waters and it's hard for anyone to know for a long time, if ever.  I wonder if the boat had n't broken down how far the two guys would have gotten?  I hope they find the crew, but I personally doubt they put them on a raft with provisions    I could be wrong but why would they want any witnesses?  Wonder if they were thrown overboard?

[sharon]

The fact that the boat was found 100 miles SOUTH of the intended location -- makes me think that this guy was planning on 'disappearing' again.

And the crew' wouldn't stand a chance.

The boat was hired to go to Bimini.

It was found 100 miles south -- closer to Cuba

[LouiseVargas]

Was this anywhere near the Bermuda Triangle?

[sharon]

Was this anywhere near the Bermuda Triangle?

Hi Louise --

No -- the boat was found south of Bimini and north of Cuba. It was chartered to go from Miami to Bimini.

[sharon]

 

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/250503.html

FLORIDA STRAITS | MISSING BOATERS
2 customers charged in boat mystery

Two charter boat customers who were found in a life raft were charged with federal crimes as the search for the crew broadened.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 26, 2007
 
BY LUISA YANEZ, NICHOLAS SPANGLER AND LAURA FIGUEROA
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

AL DIAZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Agents take two men into a building at the station -- both men's heads were covered with gray blankets.

Crew's disappearance hard to believe
Two men picked up in a life raft after hiring a Miami Beach charter boat whose four-member crew disappeared over the weekend were charged late Tuesday with federal crimes.

Kirby Archer, 35, of Strawberry, Ark., was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, of Hialeah, was charged with giving a false statement to a federal agent. Both were taken to federal prison in Miami.

Archer, a former customer service manager at an Arkansas Wal-Mart, is accused of stealing $92,000 from the store by sneaking it out in a microwave oven in January.

The Joe Cool, the 47-foot sportfisher boat at the center of the mystery, was towed back to Miami Beach as well.

Federal agents, who are investigating the disappearance of the Joe Cool's crew, were mum on what Archer and Zarabozo, plucked from a life raft on Monday, have had to say under questioning.

Meanwhile, details emerging from family, neighbors and co-workers of the two men -- in both rural Arkansas and a hardscrabble section of Hialeah -- indicate that Archer befriended Zarabozo's family in the mid-1990s.

Then a boy, Zarabozo and his parents and sister were trying to escape Cuba, and Archer was a military police investigator at Guantánamo Bay, according to Archer's ex-wife, Michelle Rowe.

''I can't be 100 percent sure, but I think this is the same boy he met in Guantánamo and told me he had grown very close to,'' Rowe told The Miami Herald.

Archer's current wife, Michelle Archer, said her husband knew a ''Guillermo'' in Miami. Zarabozo's mother confirmed Tuesday that her son knew Archer -- and said Archer had visited their home years ago.

Meanwhile Tuesday, the Coast Guard moved its search for the four crew members farther north to waters off Palm Beach County, three days after the U.S. Coast Guard found the Joe Cool in the Florida Straits, about 40 miles north of Cuba.

The missing are captain Jake Branam, 27; his wife, Kelley Branam, 30; Branam's half-brother Scott Gamble, 35; and first mate Samuel Kairy, 27, all of Miami Beach.

''Unfortunately, the clock is ticking,'' cautioned Petty Officer James Judge.

Relatives of the Branams hired a helicopter Tuesday and flew a stretch of the Florida Straits. Back on land, they said the couple's daughter was calling for her mommy and daddy.

POSSIBLE DESTINATION

Rowe, who divorced Archer in 2005, told The Miami Herald that her husband is fluent in Spanish and may have wanted to take the charter boat to Cuba.

Coast Guard officials say the GPS navigational device on board the Joe Cool indicates it was headed from Miami Beach to Bimini, then made a sudden turn south toward Cuba.

Rowe said she called authorities in Miami to alert them about her ex-husband.

''I'm not a scorned lover, but he's a piece of s---,'' she said. ``And people should know.''

Arkansas court records show that their divorce was bitter. She alleged they moved to Arkansas in December 2003 because Archer was AWOL from the Army, something he later confirmed in his testimony. The AWOL matter was resolved, and he was discharged from the military.

In testimony, she accused him of physically abusing her during their marriage -- allegations he denied.

She also testified that after they separated in 2003, she entered into a lesbian relationship and that Archer began a relationship with a man named Greg. She also said Archer was ``with five or six other gay men during that time.''

The testimony is summarized in a Arkansas court of appeal order of Jan. 31, 2006, that kept the couple's two children in the custody of Archer.

Rowe said she eventually won custody of their two sons, however.

Archer testified that he was not gay -- but Rowe testified that he was and that one of his relationships was with a high school boy. She said in an interview that she is not gay and that her poor relationship with Archer ''drove'' her into a relationship with another woman.

Rowe told The Miami Herald that Archer had met a young boy and his family in 1995 or 1996 while he was in the U.S. Army and stationed at Guantánamo Naval Base.

At the time, the Cuban family had tried to leave the island on rafts. They had apparently been intercepted at sea and taken to the base, where Archer took an interest in the boy, then 6 or 7 years old, Rowe said.

''He told me about the boy. He said he took him under his wing. He stayed in touch with him all this time,'' Rowe said. ``The boy even came to visit him in Arkansas.''

Michelle Archer, Archer's current wife, said he is a ``wonderful father.''

She said she last saw her husband Jan. 26, the night he allegedly walked out of the Batesville, Ark., Wal-Mart with $92,000 in cash and disappeared.

''I talked to him that last night,'' she said, ``and the last thing he told me was to remember that he loved me. . . . We had a good relationship, a good marriage. I don't know what happened.''

FAMILIAR NAME

She thought she recognized the name of Guillermo Zarabozo. ``I think it's a kid of a friend that he helped bring over to the U.S., back when he was stationed in Cuba. I'm not positive on that.''

In Hialeah Tuesday evening, where Zarabozo lives in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with his parents and 12-year old sister, his mother confirmed her son knew Archer.

Francisca Zarabozo spoke as she wiped tears from her face. ''My son is a good kid,'' she said.

Archer ''had only been to the house once, and that was years ago,'' she said. ``Not just anyone is allowed to come into our house.''

She said she has not heard from her son since his arrest and that authorities have not contacted her.

''I am praying to God that he's OK. This is the worst feeling in the world a mother can feel,'' she said. ``He's a good kid; people need to know he's a good kid.''

Miami Herald staff writers Casey Woods, Curtis Morgan and Jay Weaver and researcher Monika Z. Leal contributed to this report.

[sharon]

It's not looking good for the missing crew. I hope I'm wrong.


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-flbmissing0926nbsep26,0,3050578.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout


Mystery at sea: 2 men charged, due today in federal court
Coast Guard search continues for four missing crew


By Vanessa Blum and Robert Nolin | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
9:45 AM EDT, September 26, 2007

MIAMI - Two men pulled from a life raft near an abandoned charter boat 30 miles off the Cuban coast will make their initial appearances in federal court today on charges of fleeing and lying to authorities.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said it is continuing its seach for the four missing crew members of the charter boat Joe Cool.

On Tuesday Kirby Archer, 35, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, were charged, respectively, with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and making a false statement to a federal agent, according to FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela. The men had been questioned by agents since they were plucked from a life raft Monday morning.

Orihuela said Archer and Zarabozo would make initial appearances before a magistrate judge at 1:30 p.m. today.

Archer's charges stem from a January theft of more than $90,000 from a Wal-Mart in his home state of Arkansas. Both are being held in the Federal Detention Center in Miami pending their court appearance.

Orihuela would not elaborate on the charges. "They are based on the investigation to date," she said. "I can't really comment on whether there's going to be other charges."

The charges are initial clues in a case involving an empty boat adrift on a lonely sea, its crew inexplicably missing. Adding to the enigma were the two survivors found in the raft.

The Coast Guard was continuing its search for the missing crew this morning with boats and aircraft scouring the seas as far north as Sebastian Inlet and as far south as Cay Sal Bank island in the Florida Straits, said Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Johnson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

Johnson would not say whether interviews with Archer and Zarabozo had produced any leads.

"Right now we're working off the information we have and hoping for a positive outcome," Johnson said.

Details are slim. FBI and Coast Guard officials say the Joe Cool, a 47-foot Buddy Davis sport fishing boat, left Miami Beach on Saturday. Archer, of Strawberry, Ark., and Zarabozo, of Hialeah, had paid $4,000 for the roughly 50-mile jaunt to Bimini. They didn't want to fish, officials said, but said they planned to meet their girlfriends there.

Archer acknowledged that he had been AWOL from the Army and received an other-than-honorable discharge, according to Arkansas court documents. He was wanted for walking out of an Arkansas Wal-Mart, where he worked as a manager with $92,000 in cash in January. He was among those on the doomed vessel when it left port.

"I saw the boat going out ... late Saturday afternoon," said Bart Sherwood, 38, captain of the charter vessel Fighting Lady. "I didn't know what they were doing."

Sherwood, like most in Miami's charter boat community, knew the captain of the Joe Cool, 27-year-old Jake Branam. Also aboard were Branam's wife, Kelley, 30, and mates Scott Gamble, Branam's half brother, and Samuel Kary. The Branams had left their 3-year-old daughter and 4-month-old son with family, saying they would return Sunday. They never did. Alerted about their delay, the Coast Guard mounted a search, and found the Joe Cool drifting near Cay Sal bank, about 30 miles from Cuba and more than 100 miles from its original destination. The boat's contents were in disarray.

About 12 miles away, drifting north on the Gulf Stream, Archer and Zarabozo were spotted in the charter boat's sole life raft. Tuesday, the cutter Confidence towed the Joe Cool to the Miami Beach Coast Guard station. Archer and Zarabozo, covered in blankets, were escorted inside. They appeared to be shackled.

The Joe Cool's Global Positioning System showed it made several erratic movements halfway to Bimini, then sometime Saturday night headed straight south to Cay Sal.

"The only thing we know is it ran out of fuel," said Sherwood, who gleaned that information from Branam's relatives. They also told him the boat's anchor was hanging down, indicating someone tried to stop the boat, but was in water too deep.

Like others among the 25 to 30 or so captains who charter boats out of Miami, Sherwood speculates that Branam, his wife and mates were put overboard before the boat altered course south. It may have been headed to meet another boat with drugs or refugees, the captains theorized.

"The guy was wanted in Arkansas, maybe he was looking to get out of the country and go to Cuba," Sherwood said. "The kid from Hialeah, maybe he's got relatives down there."

Michelle Rowe also believes Archer was headed to Cuba. The 28-year-old Virginia woman was married to him from 1998 through 2003. A Spanish speaker, Archer served in the Army at Guantanamo Bay, she said. He met a youth there, but Rowe didn't know if it was Zarabozo. "He had met somebody that he kept in touch with, but if it's the same person, I have no clue," she said.

A "sweet talker" when they first met, the ex-wife said Archer later changed: "He was just bad, and he treated me badly."

Bouncer Smith, who runs a charter boat from the same docks where the Joe Cool berthed, recalled Branam and his crew as "ambitious, young, outgoing, effervescent fishermen."

Branam, his wife and half brother lived in their family's $5 million home on Miami Beach's exclusive Star Island. He had only been running his boat for the past year, said Smith, 59, a 39-year charter boat veteran.

Smith and other captains said $4,000 is not an outlandish fare for a two-day trip to Bimini. Fuel is costlier there, and there also are customs fees, dockage, hotel rooms and crew's pay.

Ray Rosher, captain of the Miss Britt out of Coconut Grove, said some captains may subject prospective clients to tougher scrutiny. "It's going to make everybody a little more cautious about who they charter with," he said.

Tuesday night, the Coast Guard was still sweeping the seas as far north as Sebastian Inlet, where the Gulf Stream may have carried the crew.

Staff Writer Ruth Morris and Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report. Robert Nolin can be reached at rnolin@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4525.

[sharon]

 


http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/250894.html

Hijackers killed crew members, man claims
Posted on Wed, Sep. 26, 2007
 
BY LUISA YANEZ AND JAY WEAVER
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

AL DIAZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Image of second man taken into custody.

Crew's disappearance hard to believe
 
The story of the missing crew members aboard an abandoned Miami Beach charter boat took a strange turn on Wednesday with talk of mysterious hijackers and deadly shootings on the high seas.

One of the two men who hired the four-member crew to take them to Bimini told U.S. Coast Guard officials that all four were ''shot and killed'' by several ''unknown hijackers.'' He told them the hijackers had apparently stormed the boat on the high seas near the Bahamas, according to court documents released on Wednesday.

Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, of Hialeah, told Coast Guard officials on Tuesday that he survived the supposed attack after he complied with the hijackers' orders to throw the bodies of the four dead crew members overboard, court documents show.

(snipped)

[mrs. red]

Red is covering htis on the fp as well... doesn't look good at all...

did this guy really think he could just stay in Cuba? I guess $90K would go far there though...

[sharon]

Red is covering htis on the fp as well... doesn't look good at all...

did this guy really think he could just stay in Cuba? I guess $90K would go far there though...

I heard it on the national news last night. It's been playing here since Sunday -- when the boat and crew did not arrive home.

It doesn't look good at all. Another family member has planes and boats out searching. We were hit with really bad weather yesterday, but today will be better weather wise.

This makes me so sad    The 2 men came up with such a plausible and well thought out reason for needing the one way transport to Bimini. That's why the captain's wife went with him on the boat -- it was going to be a quick jaunt to Bimini, return the next day -- fishing for black fin tuna all the way home.

One of the older charter boat captains (we have so many around here who have been doing this for so long) said yesterday that maybe it is time for us to 'return' to the mentality of the 80's -- if someone offers you a wad a cash -- call the police.

[sharon]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/253213.html


MISSING BOATERS
Portrait of ghost boat suspect emerges

The two men at the center of the mysterious disappearance of four crew members at sea will make a court appearance Friday. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard suspended the search for the missing.

BY LISA ARTHUR, LAURA FIGUEROA, CURTIS MORGAN, AND LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

AL DIAZ / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
The charter boat Joe Cool, which is at the heart of a high seas mystery, was towed Tuesday to the Coast Guard station in Miami.

Before he became a suspect in the mysterious disappearance of a charter boat crew, Guillermo Zarabozo pursued a fledgling career in security, as a guard licensed to carry a handgun.

''He had passed two background checks, and the state had approved him,'' said Ernesto Clark, who runs the Miami office of Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations and was grooming Zarabozo for a job. ``This is a total shock to us.''

The U.S. Coast Guard reluctantly ended the search for the four missing crew members around sunset Thursday. As dozens of FBI agents pursued leads, one team carried three boxes of evidence and a computer from the apartment of Zarabozo's mother.

Today, prosecutors may provide more information at a bond hearing in Miami federal court as they ask that Zarabozo and Kirby Archer, 35, an Arkansas fugitive who chartered the 47-foot Joe Cool with him, be detained before trial, citing a high risk of flight.

Neighbors in Zarabozo's West Hialeah neighborhood described him as a hard worker who lived quietly with his family in a two-story mustard-color complexZarabozo, 19, drew attention over the last month with visits from a middle-aged ''gringo'' pal.

Zarabozo -- who told a harrowing tale of hijackers shooting the crew but later said he was not aboard the Joe Cool -- is charged with giving a false statement to federal investigators. The case is being treated as a potential multiple homicide.

CARRIED FIREARM

On Thursday, a picture of Zarabozo's life, and relationship with Archer, began to emerge. Until recently, Zarabozo worked as a subcontractor with Diplomatic Tactical Services in Hollywood, Florida records show. The company did not return a call from The Miami Herald.

Clark, the Pinkerton manager, said he knew Zarabozo's DTS work required that he carry a firearm. His license permits him to carry four kinds of handguns.

Clark said he took Zarabozo under his wing as an intern. But about a month ago, Zarabozo announced he was leaving for Atlanta. His application to become a Pinkerton guard had been mailed to Zarabozo, Clark said, but ''he never sent it back.'' Zarabozo's arrest seemed incomprehensible to Clark: ``We did not see this coming.''

AT GUANTANAMO

Archer's relationship with the family appears to have begun with the teen's father.

In an interview with America TeVe-Channel 41, Francisca Alonso, Zarabozo's mother, said the father, also Guillermo Zarabozo, was in Guantánamo Bay in 1995, when Archer was a military police officer there.

Alonso said she and her son came to the United States in 1999 after winning a visa lottery in Cuba. She showed the station a copy of Zarabozo's entry papers.

Archer's relatives, however, earlier told The Miami Herald that Archer often mentioned a boy named ''Guillermo'' whom he had met in Cuba. They also said that Guillermo had visited Archer in Strawberry, Ark.

Neighbor Nelson Palenzuela, who said he has known the family for four years, said Zarabozo -- a strapping young man with close-cropped beard -- always greeted him as he went back and forth to work in his guard's uniform. ''It doesn't make sense to me how this kid could have gotten wrangled into something like this,'' Palenzuela said.

Gaby Lopez, 19, a Hialeah High classmate who lived a floor below Zarabozo, knew him as a ''very calm kid'' who excelled in science and math and was in the school's Junior ROTC.

''He would always talk about wanting to join the Air Force,'' Lopez said.

SEARCH ENDS

The search for the crew -- captain Jake Branam, 27; his wife, Kelley Branam, 30; Branam's half-brother Scott Gamble, 35, and first mate Samuel Kairy, 27, all of Miami Beach -- began Sunday when the captain's uncle, Jeff Branam, reported that the Joe Cool had not returned to Miami. The boat was found at 6 p.m. Sunday, abandoned and adrift about 40 miles north of Cuba.

A Coast Guard helicopter plucked Zarabozo and Archer from a raft 12 miles north of the boat on Monday. They were carrying luggage. Authorities said rescuers thought the pair were not happy to be found.

The Coast Guard's search covered 14,850 square miles of Atlantic Ocean waters from Cay Sal Bank to Daytona Beach, said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil.

''It's always a difficult task to tell someone who is holding on to hope, hoping for a loved one to return, to tell them that we've reached a point where we don't believe we will find them,'' O'Neil said Thursday.

But the recovered vessel may provide answers to how the four crew members disappeared. FBI agents have collected potential evidence, including Zarabozo's state ID, keys to handcuffs and an apparent blood stain on the stern. Investigators would not allow anyone aboard, but Jeff Branam said he ''could tell just by the way it's floating'' that the Joe Cool had been abandoned because it ran out of fuel.

Investigators suspect Archer wanted to flee to Cuba to escape charges of stealing $92,000 from an Arkansas Wal-Mart and allegations of sexually abusing boys in Arkansas and Missouri. Public records also show that he was sentenced to six months probation for ''contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor'' in 1993 while living in Tucson, Ariz.

''I'm glad they caught him because I think he's got a mental problem,'' Sam Sutton, an uncle who lives in Lynn, Ark., told The Miami Herald. ``He just pulled stuff I never thought he would pull.''

FBI APOLOGIZES

The search has been tortuous for the crew members' families, who left a meeting with FBI agents Wednesday to hear details of Zarabozo's hijack story -- which had been disclosed in court documents -- from the media.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said separate groups of agents meeting with the U.S. attorney's office and the family miscommunicated.

The information would have been shared with relatives had agents known it would be in court papers, she said.

''It shouldn't have happened but it did and we apologize,'' Orihuela said. ``We have dozens of agents working the case full-time with very little sleep. That should give the family some sense we're working very hard.''

Miami Herald staff writers Jay Weaver, Casey Woods, Alfonso Chardy, Carol Rosenberg and Nicholas Spangler contributed to this report.

[sharon]

http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/257340.html

Parents of ghost ship suspect fear the worst

The parents of a man questioned in the disappearance of a boat crew despaired over news about a son whose life abruptly changed

Posted on Tue, Oct. 02, 2007
BY CASEY WOODS
cwoods@MiamiHerald.com


Federal authorities have charged Kirby Archer with unlawful flight in connection with an Arkansas case.

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. -- In the days since Kirby Archer was plucked from a raft and plunged into suspicion over the disappearance of four South Florida boaters, his parents have followed a grim, unceasing routine.

Betty and Sam Archer watch CNN, waiting for the latest update on their son's troubles. They read the articles posted online, the ones followed by readers' comments like ''Hang him'' and ''Make him walk the plank.'' They pray.

''About all we've done for the last week is cry and walk the floor,'' said Betty Archer, 67, speaking from the living room of the couple's apartment, half of a modest, one-story white house in this small northern Arkansas town.

The Archers and other relatives have kept a vigil of incessantly lit cigarettes and bottomless cups of coffee as they agonize over Kirby Archer's fate.

Archer, 35, has been wanted in Arkansas since January on charges he stole $92,000 from the Wal-Mart where he worked as an assistant manager. On Sept. 22, he paid $4,000 in cash to charter the 47-foot Joe Cool sportfishing boat to take him and 19-year-old Hialeah security guard Guillermo Zarabozo to Bimini, Bahamas. Two days later, the Coast Guard found Archer and Zarabozo floating on a life raft a few miles away from the empty boat.

The Joe Cool's South Florida owners and crew -- captain Jake Branam, 27; his wife, Kelley Branam, 30; Branam's half-brother Scott Gamble, 35; and first mate Samuel Kairy, 27 -- are still missing since a Coast Guard search was called off after five days.

Federal authorities have charged Archer with unlawful flight and Zarabozo with making a false statement to a federal agent. Archer and Zarabozo, being held in Miami, are scheduled to appear for a bail hearing in federal court this morning. Prosecutors are asking that both be denied bail.

COULD IT BE?

The mystery has caused a dark question to fester behind the drawn window shades of Sam and Betty Archer's home -- whether their son has done something terrible.

Archer's parents believe he slipped over the edge just before his January disappearance after an investigation into allegations that he molested several boys led him to lose custody of his two sons with ex-wife Michelle Rowe.

''After they took the boys away from him, I expected to hear he'd done something to himself,'' said Sam, 71, adding that Kirby's mood abruptly turned somber. ``He was one to always be cutting up and laughing, but when they took the boys, no more. I didn't think they'd bring him home alive because . . . he just gave up.''

Sam and Betty say Rowe ''pushed [Archer] too far,'' and blame her for Archer's shattered military career. Archer and Rowe finalized a bitter divorce in 2005, and Archer later married his second wife, also named Michelle.

Rowe is equally critical of Archer, calling him ''dangerous'' in interviews with The Miami Herald. Among other accusations, Rowe said Archer physically abused her -- charges he denied -- according to court records from 2005. The two fought over custody of their two children; Archer won custody at one stage, but Rowe subsequently prevailed.

An investigator in Arkansas' Lawrence County Sheriff's Department said children he interviewed accused Archer of abuse. Archer left town days after he was interviewed about those allegations.

Archer's parents, who say they have recently spoken to the FBI about their son, insist those allegations were improperly investigated.

''Those investigators are just trying to cover their behinds, because they didn't investigate anything,'' said Betty, a bookkeeper.

She maintains the young accusers were not physically examined for signs of abuse, and that investigators should have talked with a broader cross section of family members to get a fuller picture of Kirby Archer's character.

''Kirby thought so much of his two boys. If he did take the life of that woman and her husband and they had two little children, it's just unbelievable,'' said Sam, racked with sobs that left him slumped over the dining table. ``If it comes out that he did it, we'll still love him . . . he'll still be our son.''

Nonetheless, the abuse allegations sparked concerns in Archer's family.

'When the allegations came out, I flat asked my grandson, `Has Kirby ever done anything out of the way to you?' '' Sam said. 'He said, `Grandpa, no.' ''

Archer's close family has struggled to reconcile the man who cried when the family dog, a brown boxer named Bono, died late last year, with the fugitive now in federal custody.

Archer was born in the rural east-central Arkansas town of Stuttgart. Later, the family followed Sam's work as a mechanic shop foreman to Kansas, Oklahoma and finally Arizona, where Archer was a member of the Color Guard in his high school ROTC program, Sam said. He signed up for the Arizona National Guard his junior year at Canyon del Oro High School in Oro Valley, Ariz. He eventually joined the regular Army after his family moved back to Arkansas in 1991. He was an investigator with the military police, according to Army records -- often going undercover, his parents said.

As she recounts his military life, Betty pulls out souvenirs he sent from Korea and meritorious service certificates from the Army. One certificate reads, ``His initiative and professionalism has inspired both superiors and peers alike. His actions bring great credit upon himself, this unit, the Military Police Corps Regiment and the U.S. Army.''

Two of Archer's nephews have since joined the ROTC. One, a 14-year-old who was visiting Sam and Betty's house, spoke, through hiccuping sobs, of the summer months he spent camping, fishing and visiting wildlife preserves with Archer.

''I don't believe all people are saying about him killing people and stuff,'' said the nephew, whose parents asked that he not be identified. ``He was just a nice guy to be around, and I think he's the best uncle I've ever had.''

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Archer's parents struggle to come to grips with their love for a son whose life is beset with unsolved mysteries. They don't know where their youngest son has been since he left Arkansas. They don't know anything about his relationship with Zarabozo. They wonder how a boy who loved criminal science and wanted nothing more than to be in the military might have ended up on the wrong side of so many laws.

''Shoot, all we've got are unanswered questions,'' said Betty. ``It doesn't make any sense.''

In his absence, the Archers cling to the memories of the son they knew: his commendations, a sweet poem he wrote to ''Mom'' while he was stationed abroad, the last text message he wrote to current wife Michelle Archer the night he disappeared: ''I really messed up this time,'' it read, according to Sam. ``Remember I'll always love you.''

The suspect's distraught parents haven't surrendered hope for the one event that could answer all the questions: finding the missing crew of the Joe Cool.

''I want them to find those people so bad, so they can tell people what happened whether it be against him or for him,'' said Sam, ``so those people would know what happened, and so would we.''

[sharon]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-1002joecool,0,4008290.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout



Feds tag 'survivors' of boating mystery as murder suspects
Bullet evidence link suspects to Joe Cool shooting, say prosecuters

MIAMI - Federal prosecutors for the first time said Tuesday that two survivors found near an abandoned Miami Beach fishing boat are suspects in the deaths of the vessel's captain and three-member crew.

"They are presently under investigation for murder," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gilfarb said of Kirby Archer, 35, of Arkansas, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, of Hialeah.

Gilfarb told U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff that investigators have uncovered evidence connecting Archer and Zarabozo to the Sept. 22 deaths at sea of the captain of the Joe Cool, Jake Branam, 27; his wife, Kelley, 30; his half brother, Scott Gamble, 36; and crewman Samuel Kairy, 27. The four have been missing and presumed dead since Archer and Zarabozo chartered the Joe Cool for a one-way trip to Bimini.

(snipped)

[sharon]

I haven't been keeping this thread up to date -- but did want to post this article.

Here, the prosecutor is NOT deterred by 'no body'.
Here, the prosecutor feels circumstantial is enough to aggressively prosecute.
Here, the prosecutor knows that he will have an uphill battle winning the charge of murder.

Here, the prosecutor will take all those chances in order to find justice for the 4 missing -- and believed dead -- crew members


http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/268935.html


BOATING MYSTERY
Making murder case in ghost boat mystery not easy
Federal prosecutors bought time to build a first-degree murder indictment against two men implicated in the disappearance of four Miami Beach boat crew members.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 12, 2007

BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

Guillermo Zarabozo, 20, of Hialeah, left in a 2005 picture, and Kirby Archer, 35, of Arkansas, right, are charged with killing the four crew members of a Miami Beach charter boat.

Federal prosecutors have two weeks to make their first-degree murder case against two men accused of chartering a Miami Beach boat and killing its four crew members at sea.

Prosecutors bought precious time Thursday in federal court to build upon a largely circumstantial case against Guillermo Zarabozo, 20, of Hialeah, and Kirby Archer, 35, of Arkansas. They were charged in a preliminary murder complaint on Wednesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra set the men's arraignment for Oct. 25, giving prosecutors two weeks to seek a grand jury indictment.

Archer's attorney, Allan Kaiser, a former federal prosecutor, said the government's complaint was ``very thin on evidence.''

''It's all up to them, and time is running out,'' he said.

Prosecutors have acknowledged they don't have the makings of a typical murder case -- no bodies, murder weapons, confessions or witnesses.

But they claim to have ''inconsistent statements'' from the suspects and ''strong'' circumstantial evidence.

The men gave starkly different accounts of ''pirate hijackers'' overtaking the 47-foot sportfishing boat on Sept. 22, executing the four crew members and then commandeering the Joe Cool toward Cuba.

And FBI agents found a February receipt in Zarabozo's apartment for a Glock 9mm magazine and four boxes of 9mm bullets -- including two boxes of ammunition with Federal Cartridge, Hydra-Shok 9mm bullets. The receipt showed he purchased them from Lou's Gun Shop and Police Supply in Hialeah.

Agents also found four spent shell casings of the same size and brand -- each bearing a Federal Cartridge and Luger 9mm stamp -- on the vessel.

Prosecutors displayed an example of the bullet, standard law enforcement ammunition, at a news conference Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta zeroed in on that connection but admitted the case was daunting without a confession.

''Our jobs, unfortunately, are not that simple,'' Acosta said.

If a federal grand jury returns a first-degree murder indictment, prosecutors could seek death penalties. But if the case proves to be largely circumstantial, the Justice Department is not likely to approve that strategy.

Both men -- held at the federal detention center in downtown Miami -- were to be arraigned on lesser charges Thursday. But prosecutors dropped them with the filing of the murder complaint.

The pair paid $4,000 to charter the boat for a one-way trip to Bimini and were rescued two days later in the abandoned vessel's life raft.

The Coast Guard recovered the Joe Cool, which was inspected by the FBI and returned to its owner last week.

But the Coast Guard repossessed the boat this week after Zarabozo's attorney, Faith Mesnekoff, sought to preserve it as evidence for inspections by her forensic experts.

Missing and presumed dead are captain Jake Branam, 27; his wife, Kelley Branam, 30; Branam's half-brother, Scott Gamble, 35; and first mate Samuel Kairy, 27, all of Miami Beach. The Branams leave behind a 2-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old son.

Miami Herald staff writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.

[MuffyBee]

Oct 14, 12:45 PM EDT

Blood-Spattered Yacht Tells Few Tales

By TODD LEWAN
AP National Writer
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/THE_GHOST_SHIP?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

[MuffyBee]

Oct 23, 2:17 PM EDT

No Bail for Men Accused in Boat Killings

By MATT SEDENSKY
Associated Press Writer
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_BOATERS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
 MIAMI (AP) -- Two men charged with killing the four crew members of a fishing boat they chartered were denied bail Tuesday, despite defense attorneys' insistence that no evidence linked their clients to the crime.

Prosecutors have no bodies, no murder weapon, no witnesses and no confession, but they say the circumstantial evidence tells the story.

Attorneys for Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo said there was no weight to prosecutors' highlighting of inconsistencies in the defendants' statements about what exactly happened aboard the 47-foot Joe Cool last month. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Banstra, however, said the gravity of the claims made it necessary to keep the suspects behind bars.

Among the items found in Zarabozo's backpack were knives, a blowgun and darts - "not indicative of luggage you would take on a vacation," noted Michael Gilfarb, a prosecutor. Bloodstains and a handcuff key were found on the boat.

The defendants also provided conflicting statements on how they met, when they decided to charter a boat and the attire of the pirates they said were responsible for the killings. But their attorneys said it was understandable.

"We're talking about horrendous, tragic events that happened on this boat," said Allan Kaiser, an attorney for 35-year-old Archer. "There is no wonder that perceptions might differ."

Archer and Zarabozo paid $4,000 in cash for the Joe Cool to take them to the Bahamas on Sept. 22. The boat was reported missing the next day, and the two men were later found on its life raft not far from the abandoned and drifting vessel.

The two men claim they were attacked at sea by pirates who fatally shot the boat's captain, wife and two crew members and ordered their bodies thrown in the ocean. These pirates, the men said, spared them and left aboard another vessel after the Joe Cool ran out of fuel en route to Cuba.

Missing and presumed dead are the captain, Jake Branam; his wife, Kelley Branam; and crew members Scott Gamble and Samuel Kairy. The Branams left behind two young children.

In questioning the lead federal investigator on the case, Richard Blais Jr., defense attorneys tried to show that the evidence against their clients is thin.

Blais acknowledged he had no proof that shell casings found on the boat were linked to a Glock 9 mm magazine for which detectives found a receipt. The investigator also said he had no proof there was not another boat near the Joe Cool that might corroborate the defendants' story. And Blais said forensics tests on computers seized in the case and on blood found on the boat have not been completed.

"The government is grabbing at straws," said Faith Mesnekoff, an attorney for 20-year-old Zarabozo.

[sharon]

Thanks MuffyBee

I haven't been keep the thread current, but I have been staying on top of the story -- at least to the extent of what hits our local news.

Everything I read says that that the prosecution has an uphill battle because all they have is 'circumstantial' evidence. ( and a lot of logic and common sense, imo)

Doesn't seem to deter the prosecutors, though. They are going for justice for the 4 crew members.

And bail was denied. Yipeeee!

[sharon]

http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/284969.html

MISSING BOATERS CASE
Ghost boat suspects are indicted

Two men who chartered a Miami Beach boat were indicted for the murders of the four crew members.

Posted on Fri, Oct. 26, 2007
BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

MIAMI HERALD FILE

Guillermo Zarabozo, 20, of Hialeah, right, and Kirby Archer, 36, of Arkansas, left, are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday afternoon in federal court before U.S. Magistrate A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted two men on first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery charges stemming from last month's disappearance at sea of four Miami Beach charter boat crew members.

The nine-count indictment, returned minutes before the men's scheduled arraignment, said Guillermo Zarabozo, 20, of Hialeah, and Kirby Archer, 36, of Arkansas, ``committed the offense after substantial planning and premeditation.''

The indictment was expected by everyone involved in the case, but no new evidence emerged implicating Zarabozo and Archer in the murders of the four crew members on their 47-foot sportfishing boat.

Relatives of the victims said the indictment was encouraging. ''It won't bring our loved ones back to life, but it's a small battle won,'' said Jonathan Branam, a cousin of Joe Cool's captain Jake Branam, 27. ``At least, we now have hope that there will be justice.''

At this point, the case, which has attracted national media attention, is based largely on circumstantial evidence and alleged inconsistent statements made by the two suspects after their rescue by the Coast Guard.

Both said hijackers stormed the vessel and killed the four crew members, but offered starkly different accounts of the attack in the Atlantic.

Archer and Zarabozo, shackled at the hands and ankles at Thursday's arraignment, entered not guilty pleas before Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra.

Outside the federal courthouse, Archer's attorney, Allan Kaiser, said the evidence against his client was weak. ''There's no question the victims were murdered,'' Kaiser said. ``But I don't see any circumstantial evidence that impacts my client. We already have their statements that other people came on the boat and committed these murders.''

The case -- consisting of four murder charges, four kidnapping offenses and one robbery count -- was assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul Huck. The defendants could come to trial in 30 to 70 days under court rules, which could place the prosecution at a disadvantage as it tries to expand upon the circumstantial case.

According to court records, Archer and Zarabozo had paid $4,000 in cash to charter the Joe Cool on a one-way trip to Bimini on the weekend of Sept. 22.

After the Coast Guard recovered the Joe Cool on Sept. 23 and rescued the two men from a raft the following day, the FBI began building a murder case against them. Although no victims' bodies or weapons were recovered from the boat, agents found four 9mm shell casings, human blood stains, Zarabozo's Florida ID card and other evidence on board.

Also discovered: a receipt for 9mm magazines and bullets in a lock box at Zarabozo's family home in Hialeah.

But results of scientific tests on the evidence collected have yet to be completed, according to authorities.

Prosecutors have repeatedly said that Zarabozo and Archer gave investigators inconsistent statements about what transpired aboard the boat.

The two men claimed the vessel was hijacked by three ''pirate hijackers'' who killed the four crew members and forced them to toss the bodies overboard. But they offer conflicting accounts of what happened during the struggle with the hijackers.

Missing and presumed dead along with the captain are his wife, Kelley Branam, 30; Branam's half-brother, Scott Gamble, 35, and first mate Samuel Kairy, 27, all of Miami Beach.

''There are four murder counts -- one for each victim,'' federal prosecutor Michael Gilfarb told the magistrate at Thursday's hearing.

In earlier hearings, Gilfarb said the two defendants were fleeing the country -- possibly to Cuba.

Zarabozo, a former security guard who came from Cuba with his mother in the late 1990s, had no criminal history. But Archer was wanted on a warrant charging him with stealing $92,000 from a Wal-Mart where he had worked in Arkansas.

Miami Herald staff writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.

[MuffyBee]

Thank you for updating this Sharon.  I hope there is justice for those on the "Joe Cool".