Coast Guard suspends search for 3 missing boaters in San Francisco Bay: “It was like Titanic in real life”

The U.S. Coast Guard said the search for three boaters missing after their vessel sank in San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island was suspended at sunset on Wednesday. One person died when it sank.

Coast Guard Commander Jarod Toczko told an afternoon press conference that crews had searched over 950 square nautical miles and 1,700 miles of track line for 23 hours straight since the intial capsizing and rescue. 

“Despite that extensive effort, we have been unable to locate any survivors within the search area,” Toczko said. “Suspending an active search is one of the most difficult things we do as Coast Guard commanders. I don’t take that responsibility lightly at all.”

The boat with 20 people aboard capsized in rough waters about 600 yards from Alcatraz on Tuesday afternoon after a trip under the Golden Gate Bridge and to Angel Island. The 49-foot cabin cruiser named Volare was headed back to San Francisco’s Marina Yacht Harbor when it began to capsize.

One of those pulled out of the water was given CPR aboard a rescue boat and taken to shore, where he was pronounced dead. The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the man as Clifford Joseph Boisa, 79, a former Sutter County sheriff’s deputy.

“Reserve Deputy Boisa faithfully served the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office and the community from 1987 to 2001,” said a sheriff’s spokesperson in a statement. “His years of dedicated service and commitment to public safety will not be forgotten.”

The owner of the Volare was listed as John Edward Boisa of Stockton, in San Joaquin County, the brother of Clifford Boisa, who was at the helm at the time it capsized. He told CBS News Bay Area the three passengers still missing are his sister, Carol Boisa, his sister-in-law — Clifford’s wife, Jackie Boisa, and a friend he identified as Tondra.

“It’s hard to put into words,” John Boisa told CBS News Bay Area. “I love my sister. I love Jackie. You know … Jackie was a part of a group with my sister. I love them all very much. They said Tondra was a new friend, you know, she came on board and I met her for the first time, but she was a kind and fun person.”

The Boisa family also provided a statement saying, “Everyone involved, all of the loved and cherished family members and friends, are grieving this loss. We want to thank all of you for our privacy at this time.”    

Three other passengers were taken to the hospital for impact injuries from jumping into the water and were later released, authorities said. Thirteen other passengers were brought safely to shore. A dog that was on board also died, authorities said.

The boat capsized at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and it was initially reported as a boat fire, but first responders said they found no evidence of fire.  

“The reports we’ve had from witnesses is that there was rough seas and apparently the vessel began to take on water and was turned over in the bay,” San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said.

Crispen said all the people on board were adults, and most were family members engaging in a memorial service of some kind.  Multiple agencies and individuals on private vessels participated in the rescue operation, and the Coast Guard acknowledged commercial fishermen who were on the scene before first responders arrived. 

“Those Good Samaritans called in this distress case initially, made us aware of it, and then rescue people from the water,” said Toczko. “You all saved lives.”

One fisherman who participated in the rescue said he saw that most of those on the sinking vessel had life vests on, but not all.

“You know, this one lady, she goes ‘Don’t let me go, I don’t know how to swim,’ and I was telling her, ‘I ain’t going to let you go.’ And I gripped her and wrangled her in, pretty much,” Justin Marceline said. “There was a younger gentleman and he didn’t even have a life jacket on, he had just a throwable and I gave him a fishing weight to go try to break the windows over there because people were banging on the windows trying to get out. It was pretty wild seeing that, honestly.” 

Marceline said the first person he helped rescue confirmed the outing was for a memorial for a family member.

“It was like Titanic in real life,” Marceline said. “I mean, there was stuff everywhere, people were banging on the glass, and there’s not much you can do except grab the people from the water that are in the water.”

“There was people standing up on what was still out of the water, and then I also seen another group of people hanging on to what appeared to be a surf board or a wind surf board, and they were in the water,” said boater James Smith, who was returning from a fishing trip and saw the rescue operation. 

“I’ve been on the water for 35-plus years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Smith added. 

“The boat was about halfway in, people were trying to climb out, you know, elderly. We seen a dog that was out there, too,” said witness Alex Montano. “It was hard for them to get out of that boat, you know, they had to climb over a rail and hang, do what they can to stay afloat. … Those people that were in that group in the water, that’s where I seen there was a lady, she had just blood coming down her head.”

Officials said recovery crews would use sonar to locate the position of the vessel on the bay floor and determine whether it can be raised to the surface.