Family and friends hold out hope that El Faro survivors will be found

Friends and family of the El Faro crew say they are confident their loved ones will soon be found safe.

The U.S. Coast Guard is still searching for survivors of the cargo ship, which sank last week during Hurricane Joaquin. The remains of one unidentified crew member have been found, but there are 32 others who are still missing, many from the Jacksonville, Florida, area, the Miami Herald reports. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, which owns the ship, has not publicly named the 28 Americans and five Poles who worked on El Faro, but at least 15 have been identified in the media. Lonnie Jordan, 33, was a cook who "loves sailing," his grandmother, Faye Cummings, told the Florida Times-Union. She said her family was upset that the El Faro went out knowing about Joaquin. "It's in God's hands," she said, "but we feel like they made the wrong decision."

Danielle Randolph, 34, was second mate, and sent her mother, Laurie Bobillot, an email from the ship, The Washington Post reports. "Not sure if you've been following the weather at all," she wrote, "but there is a hurricane out here and we are heading straight into it. Winds are super bad and seas are not great." Bobillot said her daughter knew at an "extremely young age she wanted to work on the ocean." Deb Roberts, whose son Michael Holland, 25, was an engineer on the ship, started a Facebook page called "Making waves for Mike: Bring the El faro crew home safely." Thousands of people have shared memories of Holland, including his best friend Corey Wells, who wrote: "I REFUSE to believe that he is doing anything short of everything that he can to make it home. Hope is not lost. He WILL make it back!"

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