Coast Guard to suspend search for 3 missing after boat capsizes near Alcatraz

The U.S. Coast Guard plans to suspend its search for three people who remain missing after a recreational boat capsized near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, killing one person.

The search will continue until sunset Wednesday, over 24 hours after the 49-foot cabin cruiser capsized at about 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 600 yards from Alcatraz Island. The boat was carrying a group of relatives and close friends who were participating in a memorial service.

The Coast Guard said its crews had covered 950 square nautical miles and more than 1,700 miles of search patterns using 11 vessels and four aircraft, but no additional survivors had been found.

“We have completely saturated the search area,” Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Commander Jarod Toczko said. “Despite that extensive effort, we have been unsuccessful in locating any survivors within the search area.”

Toczko said the decision was based on the scale of the search, environmental conditions and the likelihood of finding someone alive. The families of those missing have been notified.

A revised count showed that 20 people were aboard the boat. One person died, 16 were rescued and three remain missing. Three of the survivors, including the boat’s operator, were taken to a hospital in stable condition and have since been released. A dog aboard the vessel also died.

Officials initially received a report that the boat was on fire, but Toczko said that report was unsubstantiated and neither survivors nor rescuers saw evidence of a fire. The vessel instead appeared to have taken a wave, causing it to list heavily, lose stability and quickly roll onto its right side.

Officials said some passengers were inside the boat’s enclosed main and lower decks, raising the possibility that those still missing were trapped when it sank. The water is about 130 feet deep in the area, but the boat’s precise location on the bottom has not been determined.

Several nearby boaters rescued people from the water before emergency crews arrived. Toczko said a kiteboarder also allowed four or five people to cling to the board and sail.

“No question, no doubt. Those folks saved lives,” he said.

The boat was registered in Stockton and was capable of carrying 20 people, according to the Coast Guard.