Minnesota couple missing in Italian shipwreck

Jerry Heil and his wife Barbara were on a 16 day vacation.

The two are the only Americans among a dozen people still missing in the shipwreck.

The Heil family released a statement to the AP:

“We are waiting patiently for the rescuers to safely try to find our parents,” the Heil family said in the statement. “Our prayers and thoughts are with our parents; those others that are still missing and their families; and the brave rescuers. We are working closely with the U.S. Embassy in Italy and are confident that everything is being done to find our parents.”

The couples daughter Sarah said this in a press release:

“They raised four kids and sent them all to private school, elementary to college, so they never had any money,” Sarah Heil said. “So when they retired, they went traveling. And this was to be a big deal — a 16-day trip. They were really excited about it.”

It looks as if the ship’s captain Francesco Schettino caused the crash by deviating from the preset course, bringing the Costa Concordia closer to shore and crashing it upon rocks, where it began to sink.