A body has been recovered from the waters of San Francisco Bay as authorities continue investigating the deadly boating disaster that unfolded near Alcatraz earlier this week, when a cabin cruiser carrying 20 people sank in rough conditions.
San Francisco police said officers assigned to the department’s Marine Unit recovered the body at about 1:02 p.m. Thursday after a passing vessel alerted them to someone floating in the water west of Treasure Island.
The marine team had been conducting sonar scans in an effort to locate the sunken boat when the discovery was made.
The individual was pronounced dead at the scene, and officials said the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the person’s identity and notify next of kin before releasing a name.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the body is one of the passengers from the Volare, the 49-foot cabin cruiser that went under Tuesday afternoon roughly 600 yards off Alcatraz Island.
The vessel sank while carrying 20 people, leaving one person confirmed dead, 16 rescued and three others missing. Officials previously identified the first victim as 79-year-old Clifford Joseph Boisa of Sutter County, a retired reserve deputy with the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office.
The accident happened between Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge after the boat began taking on water before disappearing beneath the bay. Initial emergency reports suggested there may have been a fire aboard, but the San Francisco Fire Department later said investigators found no evidence of one.
Rescue crews found the vessel largely submerged by the time they arrived, with only part of its upper deck still above the water.
Officials said many of those aboard were members of an extended family who had gathered for a memorial service that included scattering a loved one’s ashes in the bay.
According to authorities, none of the passengers rescued from the water were wearing life jackets, and most injuries resulted from the violent plunge into the cold bay waters. One dog also died in the incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its active search Wednesday evening after crews spent nearly 24 hours searching approximately 950 square nautical miles using boats, aircraft, thermal imaging and tide modeling.
Officials acknowledged there remained a strong possibility that some passengers had become trapped inside the vessel when it sank.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused the Volare to sink. San Francisco police said Marine Unit officers will continue efforts to locate the submerged vessel as the investigation into one of the bay’s deadliest boating tragedies in recent years continues.
