FBI JOINS SEARCH FOR CITY MAN\ RECENT GRADUATE LAST SEEN ON SHIP
The Hartford Courant
July 9, 1999
Author: DWIGHT F.BLINT And JANICE D'ARCY; Courant Staff Writers
Investigators continue to search for a Meriden man who vanished from a cruise ship bound for Puerto Rico this week, as anguished family and friends hope for the best.
James Scavone, 22, was reported missing Monday by a group of friends who were accompanying him on a Carnival Cruise Line ship to celebrate his graduation from Western Connecticut State University.
Scavone, a Maloney High School graduate, was last seen leaving a nightclub on the fifth deck of the 12- deck ship early Monday morning. Later in the day, when his friends were unable to find him, they reported his disappearance to the ship's crew.
A search of the ship by crew members and a subsequent search of the ocean between Miami and San Juan by the Coast Guard turned up no clues.
Tim Gallagher, a spokesman for the cruise line, said that between the time the Coast Guard was called and Scavone was last seen, the ship could have traveled as much as 200 miles.
The San Juan office of the FBI is investigating the incident.
``We're following all logical leads, interviewing witnesses and trying to reconstruct what happened that night,'' FBI Special Agent Sara Lema said.
Lema said investigators are looking into various scenarios, including the possibilities that Scavone fell overboard or was kidnapped. ``At this point, we can't rule out anything,'' Lema said.
Gallagher said it is very rare for passengers to fall off the cruise line's ships.
``We carry over 2 million people a year, and most years we go without losing anyone,'' Gallagher said. ``From time to time, it does happen.''
The nightclub exits into an enclosed lobby. The location of Scavone's room was not available.
Scavone's father, James, declined to talk about the investigation Thursday. ``Everything is still up in the air, I can't make any comment,'' he said.
Though Scavone was reported missing Monday, many in his hometown were unaware of the search and subsequent investigation until Thursday.
One of his closest friends, Daryl Hoedtke, learned of the news Thursday evening when he phoned his family from a trip abroad.
``He was so upset, he wants to come home right away,'' Hoedtke's mother, Maureen, said.
``He and Jimmy are best friends,'' she said, recalling how they remained close even while the two went to college in different states.
``When my son was home sick, Jimmy came over and sat with him. He brought him movies because he knew Daryl couldn't go out,'' she said, before breaking down in tears.
``This is all just too difficult to comprehend,'' she said.
Wayne Mones, coach of Western Connecticut State's soccer team, said he heard about Scavone's disappearance from the young man's uncle.
Scavone, who was captain of his high school team, tried out for the university's soccer team his freshman year, but decided not to join the team because he wanted to commit his time to his studies, Mones said.
``He seemed like one nice young man,'' Mones said.
Bruce Golden, the Maloney High School soccer coach who worked with Scavone for four years and taught him , said Scavone was a unique student who excelled in school and in sports.
Scavone lead the Spartan soccer team's defense and was elected captain by his teammates in his senior year. Golden singled him out in 1995 as an outstanding student-athlete. ``He wasn't just one or the other. He was both,'' Golden said.
Golden learned of the search late Wednesday and, on Thursday, was still sorting through the news accounts.
``I've got my fingers crossed,'' he said, voicing the thoughts of an entire community, ``that Jimmy's still alive.''