Search for boaters ends; 'Joe Cool' duo charged

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search at dusk Thursday for four crew members of the fishing vessel "Joe Cool."

The boat's captain Jake Branam; his wife, Kelley Branam; and mates Scott Gamble and Samuel Kairy are still missing.

"Our decision to suspend the search is made in light of our confidence that if the crew of the Joe Cool was in the areas we searched, we would have found them," Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a Coast Guard spokesman, told reporters.

Kirby Archer, 36, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, chartered the Joe Cool on Saturday. They were found Sunday night floating in a lifeboat 12 miles from the vessel, which was about 160 miles south of Bimini.

Zarabozo told investigators that hijackers killed the crew, according to federal court papers. He has been charged with lying to investigators.

According to an affidavit released Wednesday in court, Zarabozo gave this account of what happened:

Hijackers wrested control of the vessel and fatally shot Branam and his wife when she became hysterical. The hijackers killed the third crew member when he refused to throw the couple's bodies overboard and killed the fourth crew member when he also refused.

Zarabozo said he was spared when he agreed to throw the bodies of the four overboard.

A search of the boat found, among other things, Zarabozo's Florida identification card, six marijuana cigarettes, a handcuff key and "a substance on the vessel's stern that appeared to be blood," investigators said.

Archer is suspected in the theft of more than $90,000 in cash from a Wal-Mart in Arkansas. He has been charged with unlawful interstate flight.

Lt. Cmdr. O'Neil said Zarabozo's account played no role in the Coast Guard's decision to stop scouring the seas.

"Right now, there's only two people who really know what happened out there," O'Neil said.

The search area exceeded 14,850 square miles and stretched from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Cay Sal Banks in the Bahamas, he said.

Zarabozo and Archer are being held at the federal detention center in downtown Miami. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Rich Phillips contributed to this story.

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