NOAA observer identified among victims of missing Gloucester fishing vessel

Jada Samitt, 22, was aboard the Lily Jean when it sank Friday

The close-knit community of Gloucester came together Sunday, mourning the crew of the fishing vessel Lily Jean lost at sea in a tragic accident Friday, as shaken visitors piled flowers at the city’s iconic Fisherman’s Memorial and families huddled inside a stone church.

By the late afternoon, hundreds attended a memorial mass for those aboard the Lily Jean at St. Ann’s Church. At the beginning of the mass, the families of the vessel’s seven crew members lit candles in front of framed pictures of their lost loved ones.

“When we hurt, when we grieve, when we are in pain, we come together,” Rev. James Achadinha said during the somber service.

The full identities of the Lily Jean’s crew have not been shared officially. Coast Guard officials said over the weekend they estimated releasing the information Monday following family notifications.

But one of the crew has been identified by her family as 22-year-old federal fisheries observer Jada Samitt.

Samitt was on the Lily Jean about 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann when the ship sank on Friday. The Coast Guard found debris and one body in the water, that of Captain Gus Sanfilippo. The Coast Guard looked for survivors for 24-hours before calling off the search Saturday during frigid winter conditions with seven-to-ten foot waves and 30-knot-winds.

Samitt had been on board as an observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries.

“It is with profound sadness and shattered hearts that we share the loss of our beloved Jada,” Samitt’s family said in a statement Sunday. “She was vibrant and compassionate with an infectious smile and spirit. And, above all, she was brave and determined. She fiercely loved her friends and family. Today we are lost without her.”

Samitt was a recent University of Vermont graduate and was originally from Virginia.

“Jada was on the Lily Jean that day because of her strong belief in her work, not only as an observer, but as someone who knew her important role as a crew member,” her family said. “She proved herself to be so on every trip, and conveyed to us how critical it was to protect the seas and fisheries. We could not be more proud of and grateful to her for it.”

Sanfilippo, the captain, is a multi-generational Gloucester fisherman.

Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, described the fishing community as a brotherhood that was grieving and in shock.

“Everybody’s just heartbroken,” Giacalone said in a phone interview Saturday. “To have that many lives lost all at once, we haven’t seen that in a long time.”

“We loved each other,” Giacalone said about his relationship with Sanfilippo. “He treated me like a big brother and I treated him like my younger brother. To know the tragedy of this and to know the kind of character that Gus had, he’d be mortified to know that these lives were all lost.”

State Sen. Bruce Tarr said their next steps would be supporting those impacted by the deaths

“We remain committed to supporting the community and the families,” Tarr said during an emotional press conference Saturday. Sadly, he observed, this is not the first time that Gloucester has had to deal with a tragedy like this.

The Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial on the harbor front lists thousands of names of people lost to the sea.

By Sunday, dozens of bouquets had been laid in the snow at the feet of its fisherman, memorialized in bronze. Some one had draped his helm with a black shroud.

Matthew Freda, born and raised in Gloucester, dusted off a few inches of snow that had covered up the most recent additions to the memorial’s plaque.

He’d known some of the men of the Andrea Gail, a ship that went down with six crew members in 1991 and served as the basis for the book and movie “The Perfect Storm.”

Freda said he hadn’t walked along the water for a few weeks, but for some reason on Friday, the day the Lily Jean’s distress signal went out, he went to the memorial and said he started talking to Bobby Shatford, one Andrea-Gail crew member.

He said he probably told him some story from when they were in grade school together.

“Maybe I said a prayer, I don’t know,” Freda added, explaining that going to the memorial was sort of like talking at someone’s grave.

Then he heard the news about another ship and crew missing.

“Nothing like fishing,” he said, talking about the rough and dangerous conditions.

During the service at St. Ann’s, Achadinha spoke of Gloucester and its connection to fishing, of the anxiety of seeing loved ones off to sea, and the joy of seeing them come back home.

“Sometimes we don’t see that moment,” he said.

Achadinha talked about the pain the families of those on the Lily Jean must be experiencing, the desire to hear their voices, embrace them, and “see them go on another fishing trip.” But he also discussed the “old wounds” that have opened for the entire community.

“Their deaths have impacted every single person in this place,” he said. “May those on board the Lily Jean rest in peace forever. Amen.”

As the crowds filed out of the church, they marveled at the sky, a deep red over the frigid cold evening.

Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Flowers are left at the Fishermen’s Memorial as the community mourns Friday’s deadly fishing boat tragedy. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
The wheel at Gloucester’s Fisherman’s Memorial is draped in black. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
The crew of F/V Lily Jean is remembered at the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)