Latest on Mike Lynch’s Yacht: Divers smash window in hull hours before crucial Bayesian search

A neighbor of Mike Lynch said she was “terrified” to learn he was missing after his yacht sank in a hurricane.

Ruth Lee, from Pettistree in Suffolk, said she knew the family had Bayesian disease, but when she heard the news, she said: “I couldn’t believe it, I thought this can’t be true.”

“It’s horrible, it’s the worst news,” the 57-year-old writer and author added.

She said they had been neighbors for about 15 years and that “from the beginning [Mr Lynch] “He was a great neighbor.”

“Although he was incredibly wealthy and a very important person, he never gave that impression,” Ms. Lee said.

“Whenever he met you, he always remembered your name, he would talk to you, and he was very friendly and humble, which we thought was a great quality. He was a really good neighbor.”

Mike Lynch’s neighbour Ruth Lee said the business mogul was a “very charitable man” and would be speaking at the village church on Remembrance Sunday.

Mrs Lee, from Pettistree in Suffolk, said: “You would see him driving by and he would always wave, say hello and use your name.

“Once a year he would host a party on the lawn and we would all go.

“He’s a really nice guy. I know it sounds a bit cliché, but for a man in his position, he could have been very respectful, but he wasn’t, he got involved.

He would come to speak at the church in the village on Memorial Sunday.

“He was a very charitable man, he gave a lot of his time and effort, which was good. We had a very positive opinion of him.”

Mike Lynch, 59, is one of the UK’s most famous technology entrepreneurs. He founded Autonomy, the country’s largest software company, and has been referred to as the UK’s Bill Gates.

In 2011, Lynch sold his company to HP for $11 billion, after which the deal collapsed spectacularly as the US tech giant accused him of fraud, leading to a lengthy trial. Lynch was eventually acquitted by a San Francisco jury in June.

Lynch faces more than 20 years in prison in the United States if convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges.

An expert at the disaster site, who declined to be named, said the initial focus of the official investigation would be on whether the yacht’s crew had closed the ship’s access hatches before the storm hit.

Investigators will look into whether appropriate measures were taken, given the forecast for bad weather overnight.

Morvillo thanked his legal team and family, and concluded his speech with very moving words.

“Finally, a huge thank you to my wonderful, patient wife Nida Morvillo, and my two strong, wonderful, beautiful daughters Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo,” he wrote. “None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so happy to be home. And they all lived happily ever after…”

Morvillo is a partner at Clifford Chance, a law firm specializing in employment matters with offices on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. He previously served as a federal prosecutor investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to New York Post.

Rescue teams diving through the wreckage of the Bayezid managed to enter the yacht’s hull by smashing a glass window, according to local reports.

A local blacksmith made levers that were used to break the 3cm-thick glass, with firefighting divers then able to access the ship’s common areas through the gap, the Giornale di Sicilia reported Tuesday.

However, she added that they have not reached the cabins yet, which is expected to take some time as the entrances may be blocked.

The boat is reportedly leaning on its right side, making the operation more difficult.

Rescue teams trying to reach the sunken Baysman yacht may be hearing a temporary knocking sound, a senior university lecturer said.

A marine diving and wreck expert also warned that teams would have to make a “big choice” as they ramp up their efforts.

Read the full report below:

Luxury yacht sinks off the coast of Palermo, Sicily.

The 56-metre sailboat sank with 22 people on board shortly before sunrise, the Italian Coast Guard said in a statement.

“The wind was very strong. The weather was expected to be bad but not this bad,” a coast guard official in Palermo told Reuters.

Storms and heavy rain have swept across Italy in recent days – with floods and landslides causing extensive damage in the north of the country – after weeks of extreme heat.

The ship left the port of Milazzo in Sicily on August 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “anchored,” according to ship-tracking app Vesselfinder.