A retired city cop-turned-firefighter and his girlfriend were found dead of suspected carbon-monoxide poisoning on a docked boat at Fire Island, Suffolk County police said Monday.
The bodies of 54-year-old Peter D’Ancona and Tina Sgambati, 51, were discovered aboard the 35-foot Mainship craft around 2:25 p.m. Sunday near Bayview Walk in the Cherry Grove area.
The victims, both of Moriches, appeared to have suffered from carbon-monoxide poisoning, police said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police are investigating the possibility that the boat’s generator was left on overnight, leading to the toxic fumes, law-enforcement sources told the Post.
Sgambati and D’Ancona started dating about five years ago and were in the process of selling his home, his mother, Linda, told the Post.
“They were moving into the waterways in Moriches,” she said through tears.
Sgambati was the mother of twin boys — a sailor with the Navy and a culinary-school student — who are in their 20s, Linda said.
“She was a beautiful person. She was very tiny, and he was very big.” the distraught mother said, adding that she last saw the couple Saturday.
She believed they went to a local bar before finishing the night on the boat, which D’Ancona had just recently put in the water for the season.
“Being that he’s a fireman, we don’t understand,” Linda said, adding that he owned multiple boats and was an experienced seafarer. “I don’t think the [carbon monoxide detectors] went off.”
D’Ancona worked for the city for approximately 20 years, first with the NYPD from 1996 to 1999, during which time he was assigned to the 113th Precinct in St. Albans, Queens, NYPD Lt. John Grimpel said in an e-mailed statement.
He started with the FDNY in ’99 and worked on Ground Zero during the 9/11 recovery effort.
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