A recovery operation in the chilly waters just west of the Golden Gate Bridge turned grim yesterday when San Francisco police pulled a body from the bay near Point Diablo, authorities said. A passing boater first spotted a person in the water and alerted officials, prompting the San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit 10 and San Francisco Fire Department crews to respond and bring the remains ashore. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is now working to identify the person and notify relatives.
What the police say so far
According to a news release from the San Francisco Police Department, Marine Unit 10 received the report of a body in the water at about 10 AM. Officers and firefighters coordinated on the recovery, then turned the case over to investigators. Police say they are working closely with the medical examiner’s office on identification and on what comes next in the case.
Connection to the Volare disaster
The discovery comes in the shadow of the Volare tragedy, which has weighed heavily on the Bay Area. The roughly 49-foot cabin cruiser capsized on July 14 while returning from a memorial trip near Alcatraz Island. The U.S. Coast Guard ultimately suspended active searching after rescuers pulled most passengers from the water and determined that several people were still missing, according to The Associated Press. Survivors and witnesses told authorities the boat began taking on water, started to list in the choppy bay and then rolled over, setting off a frantic, multi-agency rescue effort.
Wreckage, depth and salvage challenges
Investigators later tracked down the Volare’s wreckage using boat-mounted sonar, then brought in an underwater drone to survey the scene and figure out whether the vessel can be raised. The cruiser is resting about 120 to 130 feet below the surface in a busy shipping channel, a location that complicates any effort to haul it out of the bay, the Los Angeles Times reported. Salvage specialists told reporters that lifting a boat of that size from that depth would require heavy gear, careful choreography and a lot of patience.
Victims and grieving families
Authorities have publicly identified two people who died in the incident so far, 79-year-old Clifford Boisa and 58-year-old Tondra Madruga, according to The Sacramento Bee. Several other passengers remain unaccounted for. Relatives told reporters that the group on board was largely extended family who had come together on the Volare to scatter the ashes of Maria Boisa.
What investigators say and what comes next
For now, officials are not saying whether the body recovered near the Golden Gate is connected to the Volare case. It remains unclear whether the remains belong to one of the two passengers still missing after the capsizing. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the medical examiner will work to identify the person and contact next of kin. San Francisco police say they will keep investigating the sinking and will decide on salvage plans for the Volare once the underwater assessment is complete.
