Boat carrying 6 people goes missing while crabbing in Sonoma
UPDATE Nov. 3, 8:45 p.m.: The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the four remaining boaters on Sunday evening “pending the development of new information,” according to the agency.
“The decision to suspend a search is always difficult to make and never done lightly,” U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Michael Zapawa said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the missing boaters during this incredibly difficult time.”
ORIGINAL: Authorities are searching for survivors after a boat with reportedly six people aboard went missing Nov. 2 off the coast of Sonoma near Bodega Bay. So far, one person has been found dead and another was rescued and received medical treatment.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office received a call Saturday night for a recreational boat that was overdue and whose occupants were last heard from around 3 p.m. that day. A cell-phone ping placed it in the area of Carmet Beach, just north of Bodega Bay, the sheriff’s office said Sunday on Facebook.
The 21-foot white Bayliner reportedly had six occupants — three adults and three juveniles — and had been crabbing off of Bodega. The recreational fishing season for Dungeness crab in that area had just opened on Nov. 2.
The sheriff’s office began a search with drones and its marine unit with the assistance of the local fire department, the U.S. Coast Guard, California State Parks and the U.S. Air Force. “During the ongoing search, debris was found along the coast, and one person was found alive and receiving medical treatment. A second person has been located and pronounced deceased at the scene,” the office said.
Ongoing rescue efforts are facing unfavorable weather. The National Weather Service’s Bay Area office has issued a Beach Hazards Statement for the North Bay from Sunday afternoon until Monday evening, telling people not to swim and warning of “long-period northwest swell with breaking waves of 10-14 feet.”
Authorities ask that anyone who sees anything related to the missing boaters call the Sonoma sheriff’s office at 707-565-2121.