Search continues for missing boater; 2 children who had been on sailboat with him identified

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the identification of the victims.

STURGEON BAY - The two children whose bodies were recovered from the waters of Green Bay were identified by the Door County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.

The sheriff's office confirmed that the children are Joshua Salnik, 3, and Charlotte Salnik, 5. They had been on a sailboat Saturday with their father, Billy Salnik, 32, of Little Suamico, who still remains missing.

According to the sheriff's office:

• The children's bodies were recovered on Monday south of Chambers Island in the town of Gibraltar.
• The siblings were found together and they were both wearing flotation devices.
• The autopsies were done on Tuesday by the Brown County Medical Examiner's Office.
• The search continues for the father. The sheriff's office said it is conducting drone searches over the bay today and the search will continue on Thursday.
• The incident remains under investigation.

GoFundMe started for Salniks

Tina Salnik, the mother of Bill, created a GoFundMe on Monday, raising money for Bill and his children's funerals. The fundraiser had raised over $15,000, as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, to help pay for the funerals.

In the description of the GoFundMe created by Tina Salnik suggests a storm that evening was the cause of the disappearance. "They took the sailboat out and were caught in a storm, they did not survive," Salnik said.

Timeline of events

According to reports between the Door County Sheriff's Department, Oconto County Sheriff's Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard, this was the timeline of events leading up to discovering the children's bodies.

• Salnik and his two children departed Green Island, in the bay, around 4 p.m. July 13 in an 18-foot sailboat.
• The three were reported missing at 12:42 p.m. Sunday when they didn't arrive at their planned destination in Oconto. The Coast Guard was notified at 4:27 p.m. Sunday.
• The father's truck and trailer were found at the boat ramp on Sunday afternoon. Calls to the Salnik's phone went straight to voicemail.
• A capsized vessel was retrieved at 6:22 a.m. Monday south of Chambers Island and was towed to Fish Creek.
• At 11:21 a.m. Monday, the bodies of two young children were found from the water about 1 mile south of where the boat had been located.

McCarty confirmed that the Door County Sheriff's Department found the bodies and the boat, while the initial missing persons report and overdue boater complaint was handled by the Oconto County Sheriff's Department.

Rashad Alexander can be contacted at ralexander@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Search continues for missing boater; 2 children who had been on sailboat with him identified