Wreck of Sport Fishing Boat Located but No Bodies Found

Divers in Baja California found the wreckage of a San Diego sportfishing boat Thursday, but they were unable to locate the bodies of any of the 10 people who were killed when a giant wave capsized the vessel a week ago.

About 15 volunteer divers went 170 feet deep and found the Fish-n-Fool sitting upright, according to Loena Baranoski, spokeswoman for A.N. Tillett & Associates, a marine surveying group from San Diego.

“The vessel basically seems to be undamaged,” Baranoski said. “Previous statements that the vessel hit some rocks seem to be incorrect.”

A search team from H & M Landing on Wednesday picked up a blip on its sonar scanner, and the marine surveyors were summoned early Thursday to the area about 150 miles south of San Diego. The spokeswoman said divers were able to positively identify the boat as the Fish-n-Fool about 2:15 p.m.

Salvage Decision

The crew is returning to San Diego, and a decision will be made on whether the 57-foot vessel should be salvaged.

Only two of the 12 on board survived the sinking, which was caused by a 20-foot wave. The body of George Stinson, 40, of Orange was found last Friday. The Coast Guard officially ended its 300-square-mile search that day after about 30 hours of searching.

Still missing and believed dead are Steve Rhoads, 25, of Costa Mesa; Rusty Paxton, Kent Springman, 37, and Max Pfost, 52, all of Riverside; Timothy York, 25, and Ken Baldwin, 64, both of Huntington Beach; Terry Milam, 39, of Norco; Scott Milliron, 20, of Lakeside, and the vessel’s skipper, Gary LaMont of Spring Valley.