• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Mystery of fishermen who disappeared at sea until family received series of chilling phone calls

Home> Community> Weird

Published 16:02 20 Jun 2024 GMT+1

Mystery of fishermen who disappeared at sea until family received series of chilling phone calls

Four of them went out to sea, only one of them came back

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

On 12 April 1990, four fishermen set sail from Georgia, US, for a seven-day trip to the Atlantic Ocean.

They were onboard a boat called the Casie Nicole, which had just spent several weeks being repaired before being put back out to sea.

The vessel's captain was Billy Joe Neesmith, and the crew consisted of his brother Nathan, their nephew Keith Wilkes and their friend Franklin Brantley.

When they set off the plan was simple, sail out to a reef around 90 miles away known as Tiger's Ledge and start fishing.

Advert

Between 3.30am and 4am the next morning (13 April), Nathan woke up to take control of the boat and noticed that it was moving rather slowly.

Waking up his brother they checked the boat's engine and found that it was surrounded by about a foot of water.

Attempts to pump the water out were unsuccessful as the pumps on the Casie Nicole weren't working, and when Nathan and Billy Joe went to wake the others, they spotted that their beds were surrounded by a similar depth of water.

Four men went out to sea in the Casie Nicole, only one returned. (Unsolved Mysteries)
Four men went out to sea in the Casie Nicole, only one returned. (Unsolved Mysteries)

Since the pumps wouldn't start, the four men tried a more traditional method of getting rid of the water, using a bucket to bail it out of the boat.

Advert

They also sent out a 'mayday' warning but received no response, and then the engine stopped working.

With no power, the ship's radio also stopped working and the fishermen decided to abandon ship, with them cramming into a two-man life raft.

However, this too was in a poor state of repair with a hole in it and by the time the sun was rising on 13 April the life raft was sinking as well.

The fishermen then made their own raft out of the hatch cover from the Casie Nicole, and looking out over the sea they could see their stranded ship about three miles away.

Nathan made the decision to swim back to the boat to see if he could get some help from there, and swam for hours before getting back to the fishing boat.

Advert

Unable to see the other three, he clung to the hull of the Casie Nicole to avoid drowning for two-and-a-half days.

At one point he saw another boat miles away which appeared to make several stops and thought it might be picking up the other fishermen.

Nathan survived after a styrofoam box broke free from the fishing boat and rose to the surface, and he was able to get inside it and float.

Three of the four men were never found, but then strange phone calls were made. (Unsolved Mysteries)
Three of the four men were never found, but then strange phone calls were made. (Unsolved Mysteries)

He was eventually rescued on the morning of 15 April about 20 miles off the coast, with the fishing boat also being found that same day.

Advert

However, the other three fishermen were never seen again and a search of the sea found no trace of them, the life raft or the hatch cover they'd been on.

Billy Joe Neesmith, Keith Wilkes and Franklin Brantley were missing, presumed dead.

On 5 October 1990 there was a strange phone call made to the home of Nathan and Billy Joe's sister Oneda.

Her mother picked up the phone and someone speaking Spanish spoke down the line, and the only English they spoke was to give a name and phone number.

The Casie Nicole's owner Doug Tyson also got a strange call that day, and over the next few months three more calls were made to Oneda and two more to Tyson.

Advert

On 6 March 1991 the caller said 'I'm bringing them home', but the trail goes cold from there as nobody ever came back.

The case was covered in a 1992 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

Featured Image Credit: Unsolved Mysteries

Topics: Weird, US News

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Mysterious image 'showing fate' of man who disappeared after contacting cannibalistic tribe has been debunked
  • Scientists made chilling discovery after finally reaching the bottom of the Red Sea
  • Mum of two children killed after eating ‘poisoned Easter egg’ received chilling phone call before incident
  • Family believe chilling Google street view image could be key to solving case of missing woman

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
17 hours ago
a day ago
  • 11 hours ago

    Psychic who ‘predicted Covid’ has seriously worrying prediction for 2025 he thinks will happen soon

    Nicolas Aujula claims to have correctly predicted the Coronavirus pandemic in 2019

    Community
  • 17 hours ago

    People make new spine-chilling observation in 'ghost that screamed' picture that changes everything

    The horrifying images have taken on another twist

    Community
  • a day ago

    What happened during ‘most gruesome death of all time’ that saw five divers instantly killed on oil rig

    The horrifying accident happened in 1983 in the Norwegian oil fields

    Community
  • a day ago

    People left ‘unsettled’ after spotting terrifying face hidden in group photo

    One user said it's made them believe in ghosts

    Community