World | Italy Italy Ends Search for US Balloonists 'No hope' of finding Americans alive: officials By Nick McMaster Posted Oct 4, 2010 3:42 PM CDT Copied Hot air balloons fill the sky during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010. (AP) Italian police canceled the search for two balloonists who went missing six days ago while flying over the Mediterranean, the Telegraph reports, with authorities saying there was "no hope" of finding them alive. The pair, who are American citizens, disappeared while flying through a patch of thunderstorms during a race over Europe. Italian officials said they "almost certainly" fell into the Mediterranean sea. Read These Next And ... 23,000 pages of Epstein files are now out. Trump commuted his sentence. Now he's headed back behind bars. The Christmas spirit isn't alive and well everywhere yet. Breaking Bad creator's new show is wowing critics. Report an error