Haunting clues emerge in 7-year fishing boat mystery after wreckage found off island

Green Oceans, a Rhode Island environmental group, says it has found the wreck of the F/V Mistress, which sank Jan. 1, 2019, off Block Island and may help clarify the deaths of two fishermen. The organization announced the discovery in September in waters about 92 feet deep, roughly 50 feet from the base of a wind turbine at the Block Island Wind Farm. Green Oceans also reported “apparent human remains” at the site. After the U.S. Coast Guard searched following the sinking but never located the wreckage, the group’s Michael Lombardi linked distress-call GPS coordinates to turbine No. 1. A survivor, Tim Diaz, reportedly confirmed the wreck’s net drum. Lombardi said uncertainty remains and urged federal authorities to reopen the probe, including whether an avoidance maneuver contributed to the sinking.