Early on Sunday, January 29, 1956, three West Tampa neighbors took a 16-foot outboard boat out of the Ozona docks to fish in the Gulf of Mexico. They promised to be home by noon. That afternoon a Tarpon Springs party boat found their boat drifting about ten miles offshore. Baited lines still hung over the side and three lunches sat unopened under a seat. Nobody was aboard. The three men were never seen again.
Documented Everything on this page comes from the 1956 newspaper clippings (see
Clippings) or from public records listed on the
Sources page. Inferences are marked
Inference.
The Missing Men
John Ostrosky
- Age
- 33
- Work
- Tampa city patrolman (Tampa Police Dept.)
- Home
- 2734 Main St., West Tampa
- Family
- Wife, Margarita "Margaret" (Abreu) Ostrosky*; daughter Sandra Lee, 7
- Records
- Born June 12, 1922, Coaldale, Pa., son of Roman and Anna Ostrosky; WWII S/Sgt., Army Air Forces; married Margarita 1944*
Rupert Ray Harrell
"Ray R. Harrell" in the newspapers
- Age
- 39
- Work
- Mechanic, Holtsinger Motor Co.
- Home
- 2735 Leroy St., West Tampa
- Family
- Wife, Enelina A. "Nina" (Abreu) Harrell*; daughter Christina, 9
- Records
- Born Mar. 17, 1916, Casey, Arkansas, son of Lawson and Bessie Harrell; married Nina 1944*
- Note
- "An experienced skin diver," police said
James A. "Jimmy" McFerren
- Age
- Not given
- Work
- Long-distance truck driver; WWII Army MP in Italy
- Home
- 2740 Leroy St., across from the Harrells
- Family
- Wife of 14 years (née Julian/Julien); no children
- Note
- Owned the boat; "the only man in the party who could not swim"
* From the 1930–1950 censuses, the 1945 Florida state census, FamilySearch-indexed marriage and draft records, and Social Security and VA indexes. The 1956 clippings call the wives only "Mrs. John Ostrosky" and "Mrs. Ray R. Harrell." See The people.
Confirmed The wives were sisters.
Margarita "Margaret" Ostrosky and
Enelina "Nina" Harrell were daughters of Alfredo and Emelina Abreu. Det. Reinaldo "Ray" Abreu, "brother-in-law of both Ostrosky and Harrell," and Armando Abreu, who searched Anclote Key with him that first night, were their brothers. The 1950 census shows John and Margarita in her mother's household at 2734. The 1945 Florida census already lists both couples in that house, with Reinaldo, then a policeman, and Armando, then in the Army. Nina's 2008 obituary names the same parents and the same siblings. McFerren was the neighbor; his brothers-in-law were the Julians.
Who they were →
Timeline
1944 · two wartime weddings Records
A South Carolina marriage license issued Jan. 10, 1944, in Florence, S.C., names Rupert Ray Harrell, 27, and "Emeline Abreu," 29 (Nina). On June 30, 1944, John Ostrosky married Margarita Abreu in Hillsborough County, Fla. Both men were draft-registered during World War II. John served as a staff sergeant in the Army Air Forces (VA index), and FamilySearch indexes a military separation record for Ray. People →1945 · one house on Main Street Census
The Florida state census, Hillsborough County, precinct 9, puts both couples at 2734 Main St. with Nina and Margarita's parents and brothers. Alfredo Abreu, 55, laborer, born Cuba. Emelina, his wife, 53, born Cuba. Armando, 26, Army, two years of college. Reinaldo, 28, policeman, schooling marked "4yr." John Ostrosky, 22, Pennsylvania, high school, Army, and Margaret, 23, Cuba. Ray R. Harrell, 29, birthplace written "Mo.," high school, Army, and Emelina (Nina), 33, Florida. The next address on the sheet is 2737. Eleven years before the empty boat, the detective who would not quit the search was already a policeman in the same house as the two men. The sheet →Sun. Jan. 29, 1956 · early morning
The three neighbors leave the Ozona docks (Pinellas County) in McFerren's light-green 16-ft boat with a 30-hp Evinrude outboard. They say they'll be back "by noon," or "about 2 P.M."Same day · weather
The Coast Guard called conditions "ideal": light winds, the Gulf "almost glassy," calm enough "to read the label of a beer can floating in the water." NOAA records show no rain at Tampa or Tarpon Springs. Details ↓≈ 2:30 p.m.
The Tarpon Springs party boat St. Nicholas (Capt. George Billiris) finds the boat empty about 8–10 miles off Anclote Key, in 36–42 ft of water. The motor is not running and is reportedly "still in gear." Baited lines hang over the side. Three wrapped lunches are unopened, and the spare gas can and the anchor are still aboard. The bow line is trailing in the water.Sunday afternoon
A small fishing boat recovers a jacket with the laundry mark "Harrell." A Coast Guard helicopter is overhead within an hour and sees no other vessel.Sunday night
Det. Ray Abreu, his brother Armando and Nick Julian search Anclote Key with spotlights in fog so thick "you couldn't see your hand in front of your face."Mon. Jan. 30
A full search begins: Coast Guard helicopters, a Grumman Albatross, a crash-and-rescue boat, and Hillsborough and Pinellas county departments. An inflated life preserver is found drifting in the area. Fog forces everyone in at dark.Tue. Jan. 31
Fog lifts around noon. The Coast Guard scales back to checks on training flights while family parties keep searching. Margarita Ostrosky, Nina Harrell and Mrs. McFerren "have not eaten since Sunday morning."≈ Feb. 1
A body is found at Indian Rocks. It is identified as someone else.≈ Jan. 29 – Feb. 5
The Tampa clippings say the Coast Guard searches for about a week, "hundreds of miles" north and south, then ends the search. The St. Petersburg Times of Feb. 1 says planes would keep covering the area on training flights, and the Times of Feb. 13 says Coast Guardsmen were still scanning and Detective Abreu was still searching. Feb. 1 · Feb. 13Early–mid February
Rumors spread: the men were seen alive on an island; suicide; shanghaied onto a tramp steamer; an "enemy submarine"; bodies found with throats cut. Authorities check each one and find nothing.≈ Late Feb. / early Mar.
An anonymous caller tells the Tribune he saw a grey 30-ft vessel pull alongside and heard shots, then hangs up. The Julians report gray paint flecks on the gunwale. Police note there are 3,000+ gray boats in local waters. The Times of March 22 says the call sent Abreu back to the boat, that the paint was on the bow, and that Ozona dock operator Earnest Vidal traced the specks to the St. Nicholas, which he said towed the boat in. March 22Afterward
The clippings mention no bodies and no further wreckage. The families "cling to the small hope that their men may somehow, somewhere, be alive."Later years Records
A VA burial index records John Ostrosky's death as Jan. 29, 1956, at St. Mary Russian Orthodox Cemetery, Summit Hill, Pa. That is almost certainly a memorial marker, since his body was never found. Neither widow appears to have remarried. Margarita died in Tampa on June 26, 2000, and Nina on March 5, 2008, at 95. More →
Other papers, January 30 – March 22
The scrapbook is Tampa papers. The same case also ran in the St. Petersburg Times and in wire stories in the Sarasota Journal, the Ocala Star-Banner, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and a paper Google Books calls The Times-News. The page images, the links, and the transcriptions are on the Clippings page.
They add a night search by Ronnie, Gus Danapas and Phil Fatolitis, a jacket and a life jacket reported about 14 miles off Anclote Key, and Vidal's account that he warned the men the Gulf was too rough. They also disagree with the scrapbook: 18 feet instead of 16, Ostrosky named as the owner, "motorcycle policeman," and, in the February 13 Times only, Egmont Key instead of Anclote Key. Those are kept as what each paper printed.
Where It Happened
Approximate The newspapers put the boat "about eight miles out from Anclote," "10 miles off Anclote Key," and "10 miles west of Tarpon Springs." The shaded circle is an estimate drawn from those descriptions, not a recorded position.
Loading map… (The interactive map needs an internet connection to load Leaflet and OpenStreetMap tiles.)
Key places: Ozona docks (28.07 N, 82.78 W) · Anclote Key lighthouse (28.17 N, 82.85 W) · approximate find area about 8–10 mi west of Anclote Key (≈28.17 N, 82.98 W) · Indian Rocks, where an unrelated body was found (27.88 N, 82.85 W).
Weather & Sea
What the Coast Guard said
Weather was "ideal" with "light winds," and the Gulf "was almost glassy" (Lt. Cmdr. Thomas M. MacWhinney). It was calm enough "that you could read the label of a beer can floating in the water" (Lt. Paul Smith). The Tribune added that the open waters off Anclote Key "are reputedly 'tricky' with small squalls blowing up at intervals." The Times of February 13 says the water that Sunday was choppy, and on March 22 the Ozona dock operator says he told the men it was too rough to go out far. Heavy fog came in Sunday night and stayed through Tuesday morning.
NOAA daily records Documented
| Date (1956) | Tampa Int'l Airport | Tarpon Springs |
|---|
| Sat Jan 28 | 75° / 48°F, 0.00 in, fog | 69° / 40°F, 0.00 in |
| Sun Jan 29 | 77° / 53°F, 0.00 in, no fog flag | 76° / 48°F, 0.00 in |
| Mon Jan 30 | 77° / 55°F, 0.00 in, fog | 77° / 54°F, 0.00 in |
| Tue Jan 31 | 75° / 56°F, 0.00 in, fog | 77° / 52°F, 0.00 in, fog |
| Wed Feb 1 | 78° / 57°F, 0.00 in, fog | 75° / 56°F, 0.00 in, fog |
Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, stations USW00012842 (Tampa Int'l AP) and USC00088824 (Tarpon Springs Sewage Plant). Wind was not recorded in this dataset for 1956.
The water
The water where the boat was found was "six and seven fathoms deep" (36–42 ft), about 10 miles from shore. Late-January Gulf water off Pinellas averages about 61–62°F (NOAA long-term January average for Clearwater Beach: 61.5°F). U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary hypothermia tables for 60–70°F water estimate 30–40 minutes until hands stop working and 2–7 hours until unconsciousness. People in winter clothes, or who cannot swim, can be in serious trouble much sooner.
The Search
Official
- U.S. Coast Guard (St. Petersburg air station): helicopters, a Grumman Albatross amphibian, a crash-and-rescue boat. Lt. Paul Smith was airborne "less than an hour" after the report.
- Hillsborough County and Pinellas County departments, in planes and boats.
- The St. Nicholas crew cruised the area, then anchored at the spot until the Coast Guard arrived.
- About a week of searching, "for hundreds of miles" north and south. The Pinellas sheriff and Tarpon Springs police checked each rumor.
Relatives and friends
- Det. Reinaldo "Ray" Abreu (Tampa PD), "the self-appointed man who is keeping the search alive": "This is the first time that I've searched for my own family."
- Armando Abreu, his brother (and brother of Margarita and Nina).
- Nick Julien/Julian and John Julian (Mrs. McFerren's brothers) and John's son Ronnie. They searched Anclote Key, its old lighthouse, and the Gulf, using McFerren's own boat "all day the next day."
- Relatives kept searching with boats and an airplane into February and beyond.
Read the original clippings → What probably happened →