Finding Neil Sr. & Neil Jr.(2003 Boat Disappearance Mystery)

Three years ago (October 17, 2003), a mystery began to unfold in Southern Florida when Neil Wayne Eddleman Sr. and his teenage son boarded a boat with Gary Lisk for an overnight fishing trip. The three men were to return by the following day by 6 p.m., but did not. When the boat was still missing on October 19th, Neil Alan’s mother, and ex-wife of Neil Wayne called authorities. It appeared something had clearly gone wrong with the boat excursion and three men were now missing without a trace.
(Pictured left - Neil Alan Eddleman Jr. and Neil Wayne Eddleman Sr.)


On November 3, 2003, what appeared to be boat wreckage washed ashore near NASA’s launch pad (nearly 450 miles from where it was last seen), and it would later be identified as that same boat that the Eddleman’s and Gary Lisk had left in on October 17th. Intertwined in the wreckage authorities would find Gary Lisk’s body. An autopsy could not determine his cause of death, only deepening the mystery surrounding what may have happened to the Eddlemans.

There has been much speculation that something more sinister may have been connected to the disappearance mystery in that the following day after the three men vanished, Gary Lisk’s computer files were all mysteriously corrupted, and all the locks on his residence were changed without warning. Why would somebody do all of this and was it connected to the disappearance(s)?

With Gary Lisk being the only known person to have definitely perished in the boating trip on October 17, 2003, one would have to wonder, did the Eddlemans die as well because of something they witnessed by accident? When would the questions surrounding this mystery ever be answered?

Two years after the mysterious disappearance of the two Neils, Karen Eddleman, ex-wife of Neil Wayne Eddleman, Sr., filed a lawsuit against the boats pilot claiming that they were negligent in the incident that took place in 2003. The suit claims that Eddleman Sr. and Gary Lisk knowingly took Neil Alan out on the open waters without safe guarding the boat’s passengers. In the lawsuit it states that nothing in the weather reports stated that there could be a possible weather change to cause damage to the boat and it goes onto state that the father and son never were found, but it does say the boat's damaged condition suggests "great bodily injury and possible death to the occupants."

While Karen’s lawsuit may cause some people to answer for their careless actions on that fateful day, I wonder if it’ll answer the burning question she still has? That being, “What happened to Neil Alan and will he ever be found”?

Could Gary Lisk been involved in a business deal that went sour? Could Gary have been targeted at a time when he was with two people that could have been potential witnesses to his death and they were taken out as well?
With so many questions and few answers, there’s only one fact that still remains. The two Neils are both still missing without a trace. If they died that same day as Gary Lisk, one has to wonder why they were not discovered as well?

If you have ANY information regarding the disappearances of the Eddlemans, you are asked to call the Naples Police Department (Florida) @ 1-239-213-4844. Please see links provided below for more in depth case information and photos.

Related Links:

Finding the Eddlemans

Finding Neil Alan - Website By His Mom - Includes Disappearance Timeline