A Long Island grandmother whose son is missing after their yacht sank has been distraught but hopeful – as it was revealed her granddaughters were nearly victims of the horrible tragedy.
Cathy Morvillo – who son Christopher Morvillo was aboard the Bayesian sail boat that sank off the off the coast of Sicily – was awaiting good news as searchers attempt to reach the sunken vessel.
‘Cathy is distraught, she is holding out hope they are still alive,’ a neighbor told DailyMail.com Tuesday.
Another neighbor called what took place ‘a tragedy’ and said the Morvillo family was ‘sweet, kind and the nicest people you will ever meet’.
‘It’s heartbreaking. We are waiting with bated breath,’ the person said. ‘It’s a wonderful family and we are all grieving along with them. His mother still has hope that there’s some chance her son and daughter-in-law are alive.’
Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda had been aboard the Bayesian sailboat when a waterspout hit the area on Monday morning, wrecking the ship and causing it to rapidly sink
Morvillo is a prominent attorney in New York City and lives at his $2.3 million Connecticut home alongside his two daughters Sophie and Sabrina, both seen here
Christopher Morvillo is a prominent attorney in New York City and lives at his $2.3 million Connecticut home alongside his wife Neda and two daughters, Sophie and Sabrina.
According to fellow attorney David Oscar Markus, Sophie and Sabrina had been due to fly out to Italy to spend time on the luxurious boat.
‘He was so excited about the trip,’ Markus wrote in a blog post after discovering Morvillo was missing.
‘He couldn’t wait for his daughters to meet up with him and his wife. I am so thankful the girls had not yet arrived when this tragedy struck.’
Morvillo had represented British tech billionaire Mike Lynch during a financial fraud trial earlier this year in the US. Lynch, who owned the ship, was also aboard.
They were all celebrating the massive legal victory when a waterspout hit the area on Monday morning, wrecking the ship and causing it to rapidly sink.
Luxury sailboat Bayesian was docked off the coast of Porticello when a waterspout struck the area just before 5am on Monday
While 15 of the 22 people on board were rescued, the yacht’s chef tragically died while six people including the couple remain missing, thought to be trapped in their cabins.
A spokesperson for Morvillo’s law firm told PEOPLE: ‘We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident.
‘Our thoughts are with our Partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda who are among the missing, and with their families.
According his biography, Morvillo has extensive legal experience and has worked as a federal prosecutor.
Part of his work has included Lynch’s fraud trial, as well as the criminal investigation into the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
According to a biography on Morvillo, he has extensive legal experience and has worked as a federal prosecutor. His home in Connecticut is seen here
Emergency and rescue service officials work at a port near the site where a luxury yacht sank, in Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy, August 20
His wife Neda meanwhile has been described by fellow news outlets including the BBC as being a designer of jewelry.
Among those missing is Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah and Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy.
Lynch had invited family and friends onto the yacht to celebrate his ‘second life’ after being acquitted of all charges in a US fraud trial.
In an extraordinary twist his co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain, who was also cleared of the charges, has died after being hit by a car while running in England over the weekend.
Two months before the superyacht sank, Morvillo shared glowing remarks about Lynch and his colleagues after they managed to have the pair acquitted.
In a post to LinkedIn, he praised the ‘superstar lawyers’ for making ‘this gargantuan task seem manageable even in the darkest hours’.
He also thanked his ‘patient and incredible wife’ and two daughters for their love and support.
He hauntingly signed off the post: ‘And they all lived happily ever after.’
Meanwhile the rescue mission for the couple and those who have yet to be recovered remains ongoing.
Divers trying to find the missing six passengers managed to smash through a 3cm-thick porthole with the help of a local blacksmith with experience working on boats.
The blacksmith made special jacks for the divers that enabled them to enter the hull of the vessel and its common areas through the glass window on Tuesday.
Italian media reported that they have not yet reached the cabins due to obstructions.
An engineer has claimed the missing passengers could still be alive in air pockets 164ft below the surface, meaning divers – who can only remain underwater for ten minutes per dive due to the depth of where the wreck is – are competing in a race against time.
Scuba divers on the scene amid the search for the missing sailboat in Porticello, Italy, today
Engineering expert Nick Sloane, who led the salvage operation for the Costa Concordia, has claimed that there is a chance there may be survivors trapped in air pockets inside the wrecked ship
Nick Sloane, who worked on the Costa Concordia salvage operation, said divers are entering a ‘critical’ 24 hours to rescue anyone who might still be alive.
The Italian coastguard has insisted it is continuing its search, even though a positive outcome after nearly two days is ‘difficult to imagine’.
‘They’ve got a very small window of time to try to find people stuck inside with hopefully an air pocket, and they could be rescued,’ Sloane told Sky News.
‘You’ve got a maximum of two to three days to try to get someone out, so the next 24 hours are critical.’
Divers from Napoli and Messina are assisting with the huge search operation, which is being made more due to the obstructions.
A helicopter was seen flying over Porticello on Tuesday afternoon, while an underwater vehicle has been helping divers search for missing passengers.
Italian rescue workers are using a remotely operated underwater vehicle in their search.
In a statement, the coastguard said five patrol cars, one helicopter and divers had been working since the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Despite the sliver of hope, Italian Coastguard officials admitted they believe the six people who are still missing have died and their bodies are inside the wreck.
It is believed the ship sank after its mast – one of tallest in the world at an enormous 246ft-high – snapped during the brutal incident and keeled over, taking the hull beyond the ‘down-flooding angle’, according to nautical experts.