The bodies of two children, ages 3 and 5, were recovered this week after a sailboat capsized in Wisconsin, but the search for their father continued on Tuesday.
The children were found Monday near Gibraltar, according to the Door County Sheriff’s Office.
Bill Salnick, 32, and the children went missing Saturday afternoon after sailing from Oconto on the west side of Green Bay, police said. The 18-foot vessel was found Monday morning around 6:20 a.m. just south of Chambers Island.
The children were found about five hours later “one mile south of where the boat had been found.” Authorities on Tuesday confirmed the children were wearing life jackets, according to ABC affiliate WBAY.
The family is believed to have been headed to Rileys Bay before storms hit late Saturday afternoon. However, it remains unclear how the boat overturned. The search began Sunday after they never arrived at their destination.
The United States Coast Guard, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a number of local agencies participated in the search, which began in Oconto County before expanding into Door County.
Land, water and air searches are planned to continue throughout the week.
“The water temperature in Kewaunee County was 72 degrees on the surface so, I mean, the water is relatively warm and we do have warm weather right now, so we’re still in that time frame where somebody still could be located alive in the water,” Door County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Patrick McCarty said Monday afternoon.
The deputy has asked anyone who sees anything out on the water to contact the authorities.
