2-Day Ocean Search Fails to Find Trio

The hunt for three Van Nuys residents who may have abandoned a burning yacht between Long Beach and Catalina Island has been given up after two days of fruitless searching, Coast Guard officials said Monday.

Searchers believe that the boaters--a man, woman and young boy whom the Coast Guard refused to identify because their families have not been notified--could have left the 65-foot Sundancer on an inflatable raft after radioing a call for help early Sunday.

A Coast Guard cutter and two aircraft searched from Catalina south to Oceanside, an area encompassing about 6,700 square miles, on Sunday and Monday, Chief Petty Officer Brandy Ian said. The searchers saw no sign of the yellow raft, she said.

“All the information that we have does not warrant any further searching,” Lt. Chris MacMillian said late Monday.

Ian said the 27-foot raft was equipped with flares and an electronic signaling device. But no flares were seen by searchers in the pre-dawn darkness Sunday and no transmission has been received from the raft’s emergency equipment, which was set to begin transmitting automatically when the raft was inflated.

The three missing boaters were described as a 45-year-old man, his 35-year-old girlfriend and his 8-year-old son. Ian said they were on a trip from San Diego to Marina del Rey, the boat’s home port. The boat’s owner, Lloyd Conway, told Coast Guard officials that the craft had been due in port by 8 a.m. Sunday, Ian said.

About 4 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard received a distress call from the boat, but radio contact was lost before the caller could identify the vessel or describe its location. Rescue teams were directed to the burning boat a short time later when flames were sighted by the pilot of a helicopter making a medical flight to Catalina.

When rescuers arrived, the craft was burned to the waterline. Nearby in the water, rescuers found a charred dingy and an inflatable raft, but no survivors.

As Coast Guard investigators were attempting to trace the boat debris, Conway called to report that his boat was late for arrival in Marina del Rey.

“We then put two and two together,” Ian said. “We asked what was on the boat and found out there was a second life raft.

“We think they may have been able to escape the burning boat into the raft. Basically, we are looking for the missing raft.”

Conway could not be reached for comment. MacMillian said the missing couple apparently were employed by Conway.

Ian said debris from the boat was collected but it is not known what caused the fire. She also said it was not known if weather played any part in the incident. Visibility on the ocean was considered clear early Sunday but wind-driven waves reached heights of 10 feet, officials said.

“We don’t have a clear indication of what happened,” Ian said.