Three passengers remain missing Thursday morning after the Volare, a 49-foot cabin cruiser, capsized near Alcatraz Island on Tuesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday night at sunset. This was after 23 hours of searching for the missing people who were onboard of Volare when it capsized Tuesday, July 14 on the San Francisco Bay.
Jarod Toczko, deputy sector commander for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, said during a news conference Wednesday that the search had been unsuccessful in locating any survivors. The search suspension comes after Coast Guard crews searched about 950 square nautical miles with 11 vessels and four aircrafts.
On Wednesday morning, the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified 79-year old Clifford Joseph Boisa, of Sutter County, as the passenger who had died.
The three people missing include Carol Boisa, 74, (sister of Ralph Boisa, John Boisa and Clifford Boisa), Ralph Boisa told the San Francisco Chronicle, and Jackie Boisa (Clifford Boisa’s wife). The third missing passenger was a family friend, whose name was unknown.
Volare passengers are believed to be from the Stockton and Sacramento areas. San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said most of the passenger on board were family gathered for a memorial service.
The memorial service was to scatter the ashes of Maria Boisa, a Fremont nurse who died in 2015 at the age of 32 from suicide, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
It was first believed 19 people were abroad the vessel. The passenger count later increased to 20, Crispen said.
Seventeen people were rescued from the water. Thirteen Volare passengers were uninjured and taken to a family reunification center at Fort Mason. Three others were taken to a hospital and were released Tuesday evening.
San Francisco Police Department continues efforts to locate missing passengers
As the San Francisco Police Department continued efforts Thursday to locate the three missing individuals and to recover the wreckage of the 49-foot cabin cruiser Volare, its Marine Unit recovered a body from the water.
Authorities announced at 3 p.m. Thursday, that officers assigned to the San Francisco Marine Unit 3 were alerted by a passing vessel around 1:02 p.m. of a body in the water, west of Treasure Island while conducting sonar scanning.
“Officers recovered the body from the water and later declared the individual deceased on scene,” officials said. “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) will determine the identity of the decedent and release the name after notifying next of kin.”
Marine Unit divers and members of the Alameda County Volunteer Dive Team, are currently using multiple boat-mounted sonar platforms and other tools to conduct a grid search for the vessel.
The Marine Unit has been operating in an area with “strong tidal currents along with wind and weather challenges,” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
“Once the vessel has been located and positively identified, SFPD will coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard and other partner agencies to evaluate recovery options and determine whether a safe a feasible recovery operation can be conducted,” law enforcement officials added.
The San Francisco Police Department said the investigation continues into the cause of the sinking of the vessel, while continuing recovery efforts too.
“Our hearts go out to all the individuals involved in this tragic incident,” authorities said in the statement. “The SFPD would like to thank all our partner agencies and members of the public for their quick actions during the rescue and for their tireless work on the response and search for the missing individuals.”
Stay informed and connected: Sign up for our alerts to receive the latest updates on important news.
This article originally appeared on The Record: San Francisco police recover body from water, unknown if related to Volare
Reporting by Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record | USA TODAY Network
