Dad’s body found near island 6 weeks after kids die during sailing trip, WI cops say
Remains were discovered of a 32-year-old father who went missing during a sailing trip with his two children, whose bodies were previously found, Wisconsin authorities say.
The Marinette County Sheriff’s Office said a boater discovered the body Saturday, Aug. 24, of Billy Salnik, a sailor who went missing July 13. His body was found near Green Island, a privately owned island that is part of Green Bay.
Salnik was reported missing July 14 after he and his children failed to return from a sailing outing the previous day, the Door County Sheriff’s Office said.
The bodies of his children — 5-year-old Charolette Salnik and 3-year-old Joshua Salnik — were found July 14 about 1 mile south from where the family’s sail boat was located, according to the sheriff. The kids were both wearing life jackets.
“I have lost my whole family,” Tina Salnik, Billy Salnik’s mother, said in a Facebook post.
John Milatzo, the last person to see the Salnik family alive, told WGBA he met the Salniks on the water hours before they went missing. The Salniks left between 4 and 5 p.m. when the father noticed the sky getting dark, Milatzo said.
When Billy Salnik failed to return Milatzo’s messages later that night, the friend went on the hunt.
“I seen his vehicle and then my heart sank,” Milatzo told WGBA. “It was Sunday, so there was no harbor master. I just ran up to a random person and I was like ‘What do I do here?’ I couldn’t even (speak), words weren’t coming out.”
Before the father’s body was discovered after being missing for six weeks, crews carried out multiple searches, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette. Pat McCarty, chief deputy of the Door County Sheriff’s Office, told the publication the search proved to be difficult because there aren’t as many landmarks in the water as there are on land.
Tina Salnik described her son as an “awesome” single father, who would always make time to play with his children after getting home from work, WBAY reported.
She called the news of her son’s death “devastating,” but was grateful to receive closure, TMJ reported.
“As soon as you stop crying, you look anywhere and you start crying again,” she told WBAY. “How do you get through this? Not one baby, not two babies, but all three of my babies.”