SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Hopes dimmed on Wednesday for a priest who vanished after sailing into the air under hundreds of colorful balloons. The Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli, a 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest, has been missing since Sunday, when he lifted off from the port city of Paranagua wearing a helmet, an aluminum thermal flight suit, waterproof coveralls and a parachute.
But less than an hour in, de Carli told his support crew by satellite phone that he would not be able to complete the planned 465-mile flight, according to team member Jose Carlos Bom.
“He told us he was beginning to descend over the ocean but never said he was about to crash into the water,” Bom said.
Rescuers in boats, planes and helicopters continued to search Wednesday off Brazil’s southern coast, near where a cluster of yellow, orange, pink and white balloons was found floating in the Atlantic.
The priest hoped his flight would help raise money for a center where truck drivers could stop “to rest and receive the gospel,” said Denise Gallas, treasurer at his Sao Cristovao parish.
