Nov 4, 2009 10:29 am US/Eastern
Kin Tells Of Brief Call From Doomed Scallop Boat
CAPE MAY, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Six people were killed after a fishing vessel sank off the coast of Cape May on March 24.
CBS
A relative of a crew member onboard a scallop boat that sank off the New Jersey coast in March says she got a satellite phone call from him just before the boat went down, killing him and five others.
Janet Greene says her phone rang shortly before 5 a.m. on March 24. The voice on the other end sounded like Royal Smith Jr., who had two sons with her daughter, Stacy.
Greene says she heard just one muffled word -- "Hey" -- before the call dissolved into static and ended.
She says it was hard to tell if he was scared because the call was so brief. It came right around the time that authorities say the Lady Mary sank 60 miles southeast of Cape May.
Greene testified Wednesday at a Coast Guard hearing trying to determine the cause of the disaster.
Cape May is 158 miles away from New York City.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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