Gonzales banker missing, feared lost at sea in Bahamas

• By JOHN A. COLVIN
• Advocate River parishes bureau
• Published: Jun 27, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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GONZALES — While the U.S. Coast Guard searched Thursday for missing Gonzales banker Paul Callais in the waters of the Bahamas Islands southeast of Florida, his Louisiana friends and associates hoped for the best.

“We are definitely hoping for something positive,” said Sherrie Despino, president and chief executive officer for the Ascension Parish Chamber of Commerce. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

Callais is president and chief executive officer of Gonzales-based United Community Bank.

The crew of the 97-foot motor vessel Miss Glo reported him missing around 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to a U.S. Coast Guard news release.

The crew aboard Miss Glo told the Coast Guard that Callais might have fallen overboard after the motor vessel endured a heavy wave, Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen stated in the release. The crew reported Callais missing and feared overboard about an hour after the wave struck, Ameen said.

Search and rescue coordinators at the Coast Guard’s 7th  District command center in Miami initiated efforts to find Callais, but had not located him as of late Thursday.

“This is an extremely challenging case because nobody saw Mr. Callais go overboard,” said Coast Guard Capt. James O’Connor, 7th District search and rescue chief, in the release.

“According to the crew of the Miss Glo, he had no life jacket and the seas were between 10-12 feet at the time,” O’Connor said. “These conditions are extremely fatiguing for anyone in the water.”

Callais apparently fell overboard about 37 miles south of Great Inagua, Bahamas. The Miss Glo was en route from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, to the Cayman Islands.

As of Thursday afternoon, Coast Guard crews had searched nearly 900 square miles, and more searches were scheduled.

Based in Clearwater, Fla., two C-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircrews and a Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew were  assisting in the search, along with the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, a 270-foot medium endurance cutter from Portsmouth, Va.

Callais is known as much for his community leadership as for his business acumen.

He is a member of the Gonzales Rotary Club and a graduate of the Leadership Ascension in 2003.