Corey Domanic Smith, 29, was reported missing off Clearwater, Florida after a February 28, 2009 fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico. He and three others — Victor Marquis Cooper, William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler — left Clearwater Pass around 6:30 a.m. aboard a 21-foot boat and did not return. The U.S. Coast Guard found the capsized vessel on March 2, 2009; Nick Schuyler survived, suffering hypothermia and dehydration, and said the anchor became stuck and the boat capsized when Cooper tried to free it.

Schuyler’s account says the men held onto the overturned boat and then separated as hypothermia set in; Cooper and Bleakley disappeared before Smith did. An extensive search recovered no sign of Smith, Cooper or Bleakley, and the official search ended at sundown on March 3, 2009. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission concluded the capsize followed an improper attempt to free the anchor. Smith’s body has never been recovered.

Corey Smith was from Richmond, Virginia, played college football at North Carolina State and had been on NFL rosters including the Detroit Lions; the Lions held a memorial service and retired his number 93 for the 2009 season. Does anyone have information about that February 28–March 3, 2009 search or recall details that could help clarify what happened that day?