Missing revealed as divers search superyacht sunk in storm off Sicily

A State Department spokesperson told NBC News they were aware of reports that U.S. citizens were on the Bayesian, but had no more details to share.

Mike Lynch, who was regularly described in U.K. media as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” was cleared of fraud charges in a blockbuster U.S. trial earlier this summer. Sources told CNBC on Monday that his wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued. Italian news agency ANSA identified his daughter, missing alongside her father, as Hannah, 18.

Just days before Lynch went missing, his co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being “fatally struck by a car” while out running on Saturday, his lawyer Gary Lincenberg told NBC News in an emailed statement. Reuters reported that Chamberlain was a former vice president of finance at Autonomy, Lynch’s company at the center of the trial.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event. Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our Chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation,” Aki Hussain, the head of insurance company Hiscox, told NBC News in an emailed statement.

One of the survivors, identified as Charlotte Emsley, 35, told the Italian news agency ANSA that she had momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter, Sofia, in the water but managed to retrieve her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were pulled to safety.

Built by Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi in 2008, the U.K.-registered, Bayesian can carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10, according to online specialist yacht sites.

The yacht’s nearly 250-foot mast is the tallest aluminum sailing mast in the world, according to CharterWorld Luxury Yacht Charters. 

Claudio Lavanga reported from Rome, and Yuliya Talmazan from London.