Sea Yields Body of Owner of Boat Found Adrift

The body of a 43-year-old Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective was found floating off Seal Beach without a life jacket Sunday morning, 14 hours after his unmanned sailboat ran aground on the beach with its engine still running, authorities said.

The body was identified as that of Gary L. Bontrager of Huntington Beach, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The cause of death is under investigation, but police said no evidence of foul play has been found.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman confirmed Sunday that Bontrager was a detective sergeant who had been with the department for 22 years.

Bontrager was described by his son as an “accomplished sailor accustomed to sailing alone,” Sgt. Larry Sides of the Seal Beach Police Department said in a prepared statement.

While police did not know Sunday how Bontrager fell into the water, there appeared to be no indication of foul play or suicide in his death, Seal Beach Police Sgt. Robert Krauss said. Krauss said he did not know if drugs or alcohol played any role in the death. An autopsy is pending by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Fishermen in two pleasure boats returning to Long Beach from Catalina Island discovered the body in choppy waters about 3 1/2 miles off Seal Beach, near Belmont Oil Island, at 8:20 a.m., said Lt. Bill Forrester,, a Long Beach lifeguard.

“They saw the body and called our rescue boat,” Forrester said.

At 6:20 p.m. on Saturday, police had found Bontrager’s 22-foot sailboat, a Galsmar Columbia, run aground on the beach with its engine running and mainsail up, Krauss said. The boat was undamaged and its navigation lights were still on.

Bontrager’s son told police he last saw his father at 11:30 a.m. Saturday heading to his sailboat moored at the Long Beach Marina.

Saturday night, Coast Guard and sheriff’s helicopters, along with lifeguards from Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Long Beach, had searched the waters off Seal Beach for the missing sailor.