É morto Martynas Meskauskas
CODE66 ci comunica questa pessima notizia:
“E’ con estremo dolore che siamo costretti ad annunciare la tragica morte di MARTYNAS MESKAUSKAS, leader ed unico membro della Cult-Band Lituana ANUBI, il cui nuovo album era in preparazione e sarebbe dovuto uscire dopo l’estate per code666.”
Martynas, 28 anni, noto nella scena come Lord Ominous, ha perso la vita in un tragico indidente sul lago Michigan a poche miglia dal porto di Chicago, in USA. si trovava nella città americana per partecipare ad alcune mostre dei suoi quadri in 2 prestigiose gallerie: finalmente, dopo anni di anonimato in lituania, era riuscito a farsi conoscere ed apprezzare negli Stati Uniti come pittore, riportando nuovo entusiasmo anche nel suo progetto musicale Anubi, autore nei 10 anni di vita di 3 demo, 2 sette pollici ed un album entrati nel novero delle cult-releases grazie alla assoluta unicità che contraddistingueva la band, unica nel miscelare atmosfere grottesche e stranianti su una base di Black Metal avanguardistico che li porto’ a collaborare con musicisti ed artisti di scene ed estrazioni assai distanti dall’immaginario BM: jazzisti, scultori, attori di teatro…
pochi giorni fa Martynas ci aveva inviato una email comunicandoci che la composizione del nuovo album dal titolo “Vienaakio senio apzavai” era finita e presto sarebbe entrato in studio per dare un successore all’ormai lontano primo album uscito nel 1997. Aveva anche finito di dipingere 2 quadri per l’artwork del disco, che erano stati esposti a Chicago suscitando grande interesse es apprezzamento.
purtroppo invece il giorno di Pasqua (31 marzo 2002) è avvenuta una tragedia che le autorità di Chicago ancora non sono riuscite a spiegare completamente:
recatosi nella mattinata di sabato 30 marzo 2002 con due suoi amici di origine Lituana (esperti pescatori) sul lago Michican per la pesca al Salmone, i tre non hanno fatto piu’ ritorno, e dopo giorni di ricerche da parte della guardia costiera di Chicago, Pompieri e volontari, le ricerche sono state abbandonate dato che non ci sono speranze di poter sopravvivere in acque cosi’ fredde (7 gradi) per piu’ di poche ore. la loro barca è stata ritrovata qualche giorno dopo affondata a 15 metri di profondità e diversi detriti hanno confermato che con ogni probabilità i 3 hanno avuto un guasto al motore della barca quando si trovavano al largo. il tempo in quel momento era ottimo per cui si escludono problemi di altro genere per tutto il sabato… sarebbero quindi rimasti tutto sabato pomeriggio e sabato notte sulla barca in avaria in mezzo al lago senza che nessuno li cercasse dato che avevano detto ai parenti ed agli amici che dopo la pesca avrebbero fatto tardi in qualche pub per festeggiare. solo la domenica pomeriggio i parenti hanno dato l’allarme, ma a quel punto il tempo è peggiorato molto , una bufera di neve e gelo si è scatenata sulla zona e per tutta domenica notte le ricerche in pratica non si sono potute fare… la seconda notte purtroppo potrebbe essere stata quella fatale, con il cattivo tempo,il gelo (le temperature sono scese molto sotto lo zero), la neve e le onde si ipotizza che siano caduti in acqua in seguito all’affondamento della loro barca.
inutile dire che tutti qui alla code666 siamo sotto shock, dato che conoscevamo Martynas da dieci anni, e sembra ancora incredibile quello che è successo…
maggiorni informazioni le potete trovare sul sito del chicago tribune che ha seguito la vicenda: www.chicagotribune.com ,
oppure nei report che alleghiamo sotto:
Coast Guard continues search for 3 fishermen
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 2, 2002
Snow flurries and falling lake temperatures complicated the search Monday night for three experienced fishermen who never returned to Hammond Marina from a weekend salmon-fishing trip on Lake Michigan.
Rimas J. Gaizutis, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind., and his brother Tauras, 31, of Chicago, told friends and family they planned to spend Saturday trolling for coho salmon from the family’s 16-foot motorboat.
The brothers, who both grew up fishing near Chicago, departed the marina about noon with their friend, Martynas Meskauskas, 28, an artist visiting from Lithuania.
When they failed to show up for Easter dinner Sunday, family members alerted the Coast Guard. Hammond police found their vehicle and boat trailer Sunday still parked at the marina.
From Saturday until Monday afternoon, the weather had been clear, the winds mild and the waters rarely swelling more than two feet.
“The probability of capsizing due to weather is minimal,” said Chief Petty Officer Mark Stevens of the Coast Guard in Calumet Harbor. “Something else could have gone wrong.”
The 40-degree lake water poses the gravest danger, he said.
“More than 24 hours in this [cold water] isn’t realistic,” he said.
On Monday afternoon Coast Guard crews found two orange life jackets floating three miles northeast of the Hammond Marina. Friends identified one life jacket as belonging to the men.
Stevens said the search would intensify in the area where the life jackets were found, after boat, helicopter and plane sweeps revealed no sign of the men or their boat elsewhere in lower Lake Michigan.
As Monday morning sunshine gave way to clouds, rain and wet snow, the Coast Guard called for a cargo plane from Florida equipped with night vision capabilities and an ice-breaking tug from Wisconsin to aid their search.
“We’ll continue searching 24 hours a day until we get word from higher up to call it off,” Stevens said, adding that the men’s boat is Coast Guard registered.
The white, 16-foot fiberglass vessel, equipped with an outboard motor, has been in the Gaizutis brothers’ family for years, said Kovaldas Balciauskas, 31, a longtime family friend and fellow fisherman.
Balciauskas said family members weren’t worried Saturday night when they did not hear from the men.
“The boat wasn’t kept with the family, so their mother didn’t know when they were coming back. When they didn’t show up for Easter dinner, that’s when they became concerned,” he said.
The men were expected to fish for a few hours, Balciauskas said. With coho salmon swimming close to the shoreline, he said he wouldn’t expect that they would have traveled more than a mile from land.
Their boat was not equipped for overnight trips, Balciauskas said, but it did carry lifejackets and the men usually wore them, especially in cold weather.
No sign of missing fishermen after overnight search
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 2, 2002, 12:32 PM CST
After an all-night air and water search for three missing fishermen, the Coast Guard today reported no sign of the men or their boat.
Other than two orange lifejackets, one of which may have belonged to the men, no other boat debris has been found since Monday afternoon, said spokesman Paul Roszkowski of the Calumet Harbor Coast Guard Station.
Taurus Gaizutis, 31, of Chicago, his brother Rimas, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind., and their friend Martynas Meskauskas, 28, of Lithuania, never returned to Hammond Marina on Saturday after leaving to go salmon fishing on Lake Michigan.
Family members alerted authorities Sunday when the men failed to show up for Easter dinner.
Sleet, hail and lightning, as well as three- to four-foot waves, hampered search efforts early this morning, but the weather has since cleared, allowing a helicopter and search plane to return to the air, Roszkowski said.
Friends and relatives of the men flew to Chicago from Arizona and South Carolina this morning to search the shoreline by foot, said Sylvia Kane, a friend of the Gaizutis brothers since high school.
“We’re all optimistic because we know that they are good boaters,” Kane said. “The motor could be out and they could be floating. We just don’t know. Nobody wants to give up, that’s for sure, but it is pretty cold out there.”
She said the brothers have been involved with the Lithuanian Sea Scouts and have been boating “forever.”
The men set out about noon Saturday in a 16-foot motorboat owned by the brothers’ family. After family members reported them missing, Hammond police found their vehicle and boat trailer Sunday still parked at the marina.
From Saturday until Monday afternoon, the weather had been clear, the winds mild and the waters rarely swelling more than two feet.
“The probability of capsizing due to weather is minimal,” said Chief Petty Officer Mark Stevens of the Coast Guard in Calumet Harbor. “Something else could have gone wrong.”
The 40-degree lake water poses the gravest danger, he said. “More than 24 hours in this (cold water) isn’t realistic,” he said.
On Monday afternoon Coast Guard crews found two orange life jackets floating three miles northeast of the Hammond Marina. Friends identified one life jacket as belonging to the men.
Stevens said the search would intensify in the area where the life jackets were found, after boat, helicopter and plane sweeps revealed no sign of the men or their boat elsewhere in lower Lake Michigan.
The Coast Guard called for a cargo plane from Florida equipped with night vision capabilities and an ice-breaking tug from Wisconsin to aid their search.
The white fiberglass vessel, equipped with an outboard motor, has been in the Gaizutis brothers’ family for years, said Kovaldas Balciauskas, 31, a longtime family friend and fellow fisherman. Balciauskas said family members weren’t worried Saturday night when they did not hear from the men.
“The boat wasn’t kept with the family, so their mother didn’t know when they were coming back. When they didn’t show up for Easter dinner, that’s when they became concerned,” he said.
The men were expected to fish for a few hours, Balciauskas said. With coho salmon swimming close to the shoreline, he said he wouldn’t expect that they would have traveled more than a mile from land.
Their boat was not equipped for overnight trips, Balciauskas said, but it did carry lifejackets, and the men usually wore them, especially in cold weather.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news
Coast Guard ends lake search for 3 men
Disappearance still a mystery
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
April 3, 2002
The search for three men who never returned to Hammond Marina from a weekend salmon-fishing trip ended Tuesday as the Coast Guard called off a massive rescue effort that covered most of lower Lake Michigan.
“Given the magnitude and intensity of the search, there’s no reasonable hope for survival,” said Capt. Bruce Ross, the Coast Guard’s search coordinator.
Since Sunday more than 100 people in six boats, seven helicopters and a plane equipped with night vision capabilities crisscrossed the lake.
But what became of the men–two brothers, who were experienced sport fishermen, and an artist friend visiting from Lithuania–remains a mystery.
Tauras P. Gaizutis, 31, of Chicago, his brother Rimas, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind., and their friend Martynas Meskauskas, 28, were wearing coats when they left Hammond Marina on Saturday in their 16-foot motorboat for a few hours of coho salmon fishing.
Family members alerted authorities when the men failed to show up for Easter dinner. Hammond police found Rimas’ white pickup truck and empty boat trailer parked at the marina near his brother’s car.
The search lasted more than 48 hours.
“We covered every single place that boat could have been,” said spokesman Paul Roszkowski, of the Calumet Harbor Coast Guard Station. “Usually if something happens to a boat on the water, we have debris, some trace, something left behind.”
Search participants also included the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, the Chicago Police and Fire Departments, the Civil Air Patrol and the Canadian Armed Forces.
No other boat debris was found after two life jackets were picked up Monday three miles north of Hammond.
Friends identified one of the vests as possibly belonging to the men.
Rescue officials held out little hope that the men could survive much longer than 24 hours in the 35-to-40 degree water.
Still, friends said that the Gaizutis brothers’ years of sailing and fishing experience on Lake Michigan offers lingering hope.
“The motor could be out, and they could be just floating,” said Sylvia Kane, a friend of the brothers since high school. “Nobody wants to give up, that’s for sure, but it is pretty cold out there.”
In high school, Tauras joined the Lithuanian Sea Scouts in Chicago and later taught children’s sailing classes.
Both Gaizutis brothers grew up fishing from the family’s fiberglass motorboat, and they told friends Saturday morning they planned to fish near the Indiana shore.
The other missing man, Meskauskas, was a long time friend of the Gaizutis brothers, the only sons of Lithuanian immigrants who live in Chicago and Beverly Shores, said friend Sigita Balciauskas.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 3, 2002
The search for three men who never returned to Hammond Marina from a weekend salmon-fishing trip ended Tuesday as the Coast Guard called off a massive rescue effort that covered most of lower Lake Michigan.
“Given the magnitude and intensity of the search, there’s no reasonable hope for survival,” said Capt. Bruce Ross, the Coast Guard’s search coordinator.
Since Sunday more than 100 people in six boats, seven helicopters and a plane equipped with night vision capabilities crisscrossed the lake.
But what became of the men–two brothers, who were experienced sport fishermen, and an artist friend visiting from Lithuania–remains a mystery.
Tauras P. Gaizutis, 31, of Chicago, his brother Rimas, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind., and their friend Martynas Meskauskas, 28, were wearing coats when they left Hammond Marina on Saturday in their 16-foot motorboat for a few hours of coho salmon fishing.
Family members alerted authorities when the men failed to show up for Easter dinner. Hammond police found Rimas’ white pickup truck and empty boat trailer parked at the marina near his brother’s car.
The search lasted more than 48 hours.
“We covered every single place that boat could have been,” said spokesman Paul Roszkowski, of the Calumet Harbor Coast Guard Station. “Usually if something happens to a boat on the water, we have debris, some trace, something left behind.”
Search participants also included the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, the Chicago Police and Fire Departments, the Civil Air Patrol and the Canadian Armed Forces.
No other boat debris was found after two life jackets were picked up Monday three miles north of Hammond.
Friends identified one of the vests as possibly belonging to the men.
Rescue officials held out little hope that the men could survive much longer than 24 hours in the 35-to-40 degree water.
Still, friends said that the Gaizutis brothers’ years of sailing and fishing experience on Lake Michigan offers lingering hope.
“The motor could be out, and they could be just floating,” said Sylvia Kane, a friend of the brothers since high school. “Nobody wants to give up, that’s for sure, but it is pretty cold out there.”
In high school, Tauras joined the Lithuanian Sea Scouts in Chicago and later taught children’s sailing classes.
Both Gaizutis brothers grew up fishing from the family’s fiberglass motorboat, and they told friends Saturday morning they planned to fish near the Indiana shore.
The other missing man, Meskauskas, was a long time friend of the Gaizutis brothers, the only sons of Lithuanian immigrants who live in Chicago and Beverly Shores, said friend Sigita Balciauskas.
Family, friends of missing fishermen scour beaches
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
April 3, 2002, 1:07 PM CST
A day after the Coast Guard called off its search for three missing fishermen, about 40 of their friends and relatives today began walking Lake Michigan beaches in Indiana and Michigan, seeking clues to the boaters’ fate.
Working in teams, the searchers were walking the beaches in small groups in a careful, coordinated effort, covering about 50 miles from Gary, Ind., to Bridgeman, Mich.
“Maybe we’ll find something, anything. A baseball hat. A piece of clothing,” said Kovaldas Balciauskas, 31. “The wind patterns have changed, and there is a good chance something washed up.”
Balciauskas identified himself as a friend who grew up fishing with two of the missing men, Rimas Gaizutis, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind., and his brother, Tauras, 31, of Chicago.
Martynas Meskauskas, 28, a Lithuanian musician and artist visiting Chicago, also was with the brothers when they departed from Hammond Marina Saturday in a 16-foot motorboat for salmon fishing.
Rescue officials held out little hope the men could survive much longer than 24 hours in the 35- to 40-degree water. Still, friends said the Gaizutis brothers’ years of sailing and fishing experience on Lake Michigan offered lingering hope.
“The motor could be out, and they could be just floating,” Sylvia Kane, a friend of the brothers since high school, said Tuesday. “Nobody wants to give up, that’s for sure, but it is pretty cold out there.”
Balciauskas said he was in touch with Coast Guard officials, who agreed to assist if the volunteers discovered any new evidence.
“They’ve done a spectacular job, but we want to carry on,” Balciauskas said of the guard’s massive 48-hour search of southern Lake Michigan.
The official search, which at one point involved more than 100 people in six boats, seven helicopters and a plane equipped with night vision capabilities, ended Tuesday afternoon.
“Given the magnitude and intensity of the search, there’s no reasonable hope for survival,” Capt. Bruce Ross, the Coast Guard’s search coordinator said Tuesday.
The guard’s effort turned up no trace of the men, except for two life preservers floating Monday on the frigid water three miles north of Hammond. Friends identified one of the vests as possibly belonging to the men.
Family members alerted authorities when the men failed to show up for Easter dinner. Hammond police found Rimas’ white pickup truck and empty boat trailer parked at the marina near his brother’s car.
In high school, Tauras joined the Lithuanian Sea Scouts in Chicago and later taught children’s sailing classes.
Both Gaizutis brothers grew up fishing from the family’s fiberglass motorboat, and they told friends Saturday morning they planned to fish near the Indiana shore.
Meskauskas, was a long-time friend of the Gaizutises, the only sons of Lithuanian immigrants who live in Chicago and Beverly Shores, said friend Sigita Balciauskas.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune
40 search beaches for signs of missing
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
April 4, 2002
A day after the Coast Guard called off its search for three missing fishermen, about 40 of their friends and relatives Wednesday walked Lake Michigan beaches in Indiana and Michigan, seeking clues to the boaters’ fate.
A green tarp, a tackle box and a shredded baseball hat were among the debris found in the 50-mile sweep of beaches from Gary, Ind., to Bridgeman, Mich., but friends and family said none of it looked like material belonging to the men.
Rimas Gaizutis, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind., his brother, Tauras, 31, of Chicago, and their artist friend, Martynas Meskauskas, 28, of Lithuania, departed Hammond Marina on Saturday for a day of salmon fishing and never returned.
Family members alerted authorities Sunday when the men failed to show for Easter dinner.
Sigita Balciauskas, a friend of the Gaizutis brothers, said she and others will likely end their foot search after Wednesday.
“We have hope, but we’re being realistic,” she said.
Friends said they remain puzzled by the disappearance of the men, all experienced boaters. The weekend weather was clear, the lake surface calm, and, except for a life jacket spotted near Hammond Marina that may have belonged to the men, little debris from their boat has been found.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office said that if the men did drown, their bodies may have sunk in the 35- to 40-degree water. The bodies may not appear for weeks or months when the lake warms and gases from decomposition bring them to the surface, said Dr. Edmund Donoghue, the county’s chief medical examiner.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune
Missing boat recovered from lake bottom
Still no sign of 3 fishermen
By Amy E. Nevala
Tribune staff reporter
April 4, 2002, 4:43 PM CST
A 16-foot motorboat last seen leaving Hammond, Ind., Marina Saturday with three men on board was discovered this morning on the bottom of Lake Michigan off Chicago’s Southeast Side.
The vessel’s location was about a mile east of the Coast Guard station that had coordinated a massive search for the craft earlier this week and two miles north of the marina.
There were no signs of the three fishermen, said Chief Petty Officer Mark Stevens at the Calumet Harbor Coast Guard station in Calumet Park.
Boats of the Coast Guard, Chicago Police Department marine unit and Lake County, Ind., sheriff’s department were on the scene, and divers were in the water searching for bodies, Stevens said. Family members of the missing men were notified of the discovery at about noon today.
Crew members of the tugboat Hannah D. Hannah spotted a line of floating debris at about 6:15 a.m. and alerted the Coast Guard, Stevens said. Divers went down and discovered the boat lying upside down on the lake bottom in about 50 feet of water.
Registration numbers on the side of the craft matched those of the missing vessel, Stevens said. Divers also found a cooler and a red gasoline tank.
The craft was on the Indiana side of the lake, inside the Calumet Harbor breakwater and in the Calumet Harbor Shipping Channel, officials said. It could not immediately be determined what caused the boat to sink.
Stevens said the Coast Guard would turn over the investigation into the boat’s disappearance to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Lake County sheriff’s divers raised the boat this afternoon and hauled it back to the Hammond Marina.
The craft carried Rimas Gaizutis, 30, of Beverly Shores, Ind.; his brother Tauras, 31, of Chicago; and Martynas Meskauskas, 28, a Lithuanian musician and artist visiting Chicago. Family members alerted authorities when the men failed to show up for Easter dinner.
The Coast Guard ended a 48-hour search Tuesday afternoon. All they found at the time were two life preservers, discovered floating in the lake three miles north of Hammond, that may have come from the missing boat.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune