Missing fishing boat believed sunk

Searchers Friday found a body and what appeared to be a sonar image of a boat off southwest England, a day after a fishing vessel was reported missing. The Purbeck Isle, a 36-foot wooden whelker, had been expected to return to Weymouth on the English Channel coast Thursday evening, the Express reported. The three men on board were the captain, David MacFarland, 37, and Robert Prowse and Jack Craig, both 22. Investigators believe the boat, built about 50 years ago, was swamped off the Isle of Portland and sank. What appears to be a wreck of the right size was located on the seafloor using sonar imaging. Maxine Prowse, Robert's mother, said her son had three children. "He's a hard-working lad -- he's always down on the harbor in the summer crabbing and helping holidaymakers do it too," she said. A search began Thursday evening using a Navy helicopter and three ships. It was suspended at about 2 a.m. Friday and resumed at dawn.