August ,2 010 Pohnpei, FSM- In early May, Murphy Simion geared up for a solitary fishing trip in the waters of Pohnpei. He got into his boat, moored near the PCR hotel and restaurant in Nahntehlik, started up his engine and shortly after, vanished like a character from the television series, "Without a Trace.""
Local volunteers, the US Coast Guard, and FSM Marine Surveillance vessels searched for Simion through the month of May but could find no trace of him in the massive Pacific Ocean.
Ultimately the search was called off. All hope was gone and his family, resigned to Murphy 's fate, held a funeral for him in Nett. His parents, his wife, his three children, and many relatives and friends were in attendance at the funeral
Since that time, no one except for Murphy knew hat he as live.
Murphy, on the other hand, was surely painfully aware of the fact and fighting to be sure that he stayed that way. He was burning in the sun, eating an occasional fish or a bird and drinking rain water in order to survive, he later told the President of he SM.
It was engine trouble that set him adrift but Murphy Simion is a miracle man. For just under three months he floated dead in the sea but he is still alive and now he is at home with his loved ones who are attending to his needs at the Pohnpei State Hospital. He is their father, their son, their spouse, their cousin. He is their Lazarus, brought back rom the dead.
According to a press release by the FSM Public Information Office (PIO)Simion arrived in Pohnpei on August 2.
The press release only noted when it was that FSM's President Manny Mori received word that Simion had been found. It didn't say how long Simion had already been in Palau before the President Mori received the phone call from the Pohnpei State Director of the Department of Public Safety, Lucas Carlos. Carlos told the President during that phone call that Simeon had been found on an atoll a few miles from Koror and was in the care of the Belau National hospital in Palau.
The PIO release said that Simeon encountered long liners, purse seiners and merchant ships in the distance, but was not successful in getting their attention. It didn't say whether or not he had signaling equipment.
The release said that President Mori and his staff visited with Simion in the hospital in Palau. Before departing Mori "personally assisted Simeon with the financial means to purchase clothing, toiletries and 'hotel accommodation ' n Palau. "
The press office was careful to mention that Gerson Jack son, Consul General of the FSM in Guam, processed a Travel Certification Letter from the Consulate, addressed to Continental Airlines and the U.S. Immigration Services to authorize Simeon 's entry into the U.S. territory(Guam) without a passport.
Simion was transported to the Pohnpei State Hospital after his arrival. During our three visits to the hospital after Simeon 's arrival, family members told The Kaselehlie Press that he was too weak for an interview. From what we could see from the door of his private room they were not at all being over protective.