2 Bodies Found Near Boat Wreckage Off Avalon Harbor; Third Is Sought

The bodies of an elderly couple were found floating near the wreckage of a small wooden boat 10 miles off Avalon Harbor Thursday and searchers were looking for a third body, U.S. Coast Guard officials reported.

The wreckage was spotted by crewmen on the excursion boat, Catalina Countess, as it returned to the mainland from Catalina about 5 p.m.

Coroner’s deputies said the man and woman may be a Hemet couple whose son owns a 40-foot boat. The names of the couple and their son, a resident of Long Beach, were not released. Coast Guard cutters were continuing the search on the possibility that the son also had been aboard.

“There were thousands of little pieces of wreckage out there. It looked like someone had picked it up, chewed it up and spit it out,” said Los Angeles County Lifeguard Lt. Paul McIlroy, who assisted in the search. McIlroy said there were no burn marks to indicate an explosion and nothing to indicate a collision.

“It’s a real mystery,” he said.