54th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett : Lost team and balloon found off the Italian coast

The bodies of the two missing American balloonists have been found today in the Adriatic Sea, off the Italian coast 10 miles north of Vieste, Italian officials say.

Richard Abruzzo, 47, and Carol Rymer Davis, 65, were competing in 54th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett long-distance balloon competition out of Bristol (UK) when, after having flown approximately 1,660 km, they disappeared very early on 29 September 2010 over the Adriatic Sea in bad weather. The balloon's last tracking reports had shown it heading towards the sea at high speed. The balloon's basket with their bodies still inside was located and hauled from the water by the crew of an Italian fishing boat, an official said.