Missing balloonist allegedly heading to Albania

TIRANA, Oct. 5 – A message from a balloonist who went missing over the Adriatic said “things are good” about 90 minutes before the balloon vanished from the radar.
American pilots Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis were competing in the Gordon Bennett race but disappeared on Sept. 29.
He said: “We’re headed for Albania – we’re scooting along.” The race launched near Bristol on Sept 25. Abruzzo left the message on the mobile phone of his crew chief, Rob Bayly.
Bayly said Abruzzo had further voice communication with the weatherman, which was not recorded, before they lost contact.
Americans, Abruzzo, 47, and Rymer Davis, 65, who won the race in 2004, had last contact with the Italian coastguard at 8 a.m. local time on Sept. 29 when they reported bad weather conditions.
A search for the pair was started and led by the Italian Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) on Wednesday but was called off on Monday afternoon.
The event’s organizers said that new radar information on the missing Americans suggested they were “unlikely to have survived”.