Minnesota couple aboard ship still missing

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS

A Minnesota couple missing after a cruise ship capsized off the west coast of Italy are devout Catholics who spend part of almost every day at church, where he teaches religious classes and she hands out baked goods and other sweet treats to parishioners.

Church members described the kindness and good deeds of Jerry and Barbara Heil on Monday as a search continued along the Italian coast. The Heils are among more than two dozen people still missing after the Costa Concordia hit a reef and ran aground near Tuscany on Friday night.

Six people have been confirmed dead, and prosecutors are investigating the ship’s captain for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck. The ship’s owner said the captain, Francesco Schettino, caused the crash by deviating from the authorized course.

Diane Vorland, who uses a wheelchair, told The Associated Press that Jerry Heil, 69, came to her house every Thursday for the past three years to administer her communion and recite the rosary. The trip, she said, “was a big deal for them.”

The Heils live in White Bear Lake, a suburb of about 25,000 people 15 miles outside St. Paul. Several family members did not respond to phone calls from the AP on Sunday and Monday.