Search for body of Dele and friends is called off

Angela Doland

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

PAPEETE, Tahiti -- Investigators have stopped searching the South Pacific for the bodies of former NBA player Bison Dele and two friends who disappeared at sea.

Dele, his girlfriend and a skipper vanished July 7 while sailing near the tiny island of Maiao, west of Tahiti. French investigators believe they died during an onboard struggle, and that Dele's brother and sailing companion, Miles Dabord, was involved.

Officials have given up their search of the area because of the depth of the ocean and because it is infested with sharks, Papeete prosecutor Michel Marotte said Tuesday.

"It's been two and a half months," Marotte said. "If by some chance, a few bones or fragments wash up, we'll know what it is. Now, it's purely up to chance."

Authorities tracked the boat's coordinates by studying calls off its satellite phone.

Investigators in French Polynesia have focused on interviewing witnesses and searching the boat, which was docked in the Tahiti port where Dabord left it in mid-July. A group of 13 FBI agents working on the case returned home this weekend, and much of the investigation has shifted to the United States.

Authorities said they had little hope of ever hearing Dabord's version of events first-hand. Dabord remains in a coma on life support in a California hospital. He was found barely clinging to life in Tijuana, Mexico on Sept. 14.

Patricia Phillips, the mother of the two brothers, has told newspapers that Dabord slipped into a coma after overdosing on insulin and failing to take his asthma medicine.

Phillips said he will be unhooked from the respirator keeping him alive, but she would not say when, the Los Angeles Times reported today.

With Dabord's recovery unlikely, a secondhand account from his former girlfriend has taken on added importance.

Erica Weise joined Dabord briefly on the Polynesian island of Moorea after the disappearances. After returning home, she informed American authorities Dabord told her of an onboard struggle that left his companions dead.

Weise was quoted by Les Nouvelles de Tahiti newspaper that Dele's girlfriend, Serena Karlan, was killed when she tried to intervene during a fight between the two brothers. She died after falling and hitting her head.

She reportedly said Dabord told her that Dele killed skipper Bertrand Saldo because he wanted to radio authorities about Karlan's death. The brothers' fighting escalated, and Dabord shot Dele in defense.

Authorities in French Polynesia have not confirmed the account.