Search for Victims of Boat Accident Resumes

The Coast Guard on Tuesday resumed the search for victims of a boating accident after a body was discovered floating in the channel between Long Beach and Catalina Island, the area where three Van Nuys residents apparently abandoned a burning yacht. The body was not immediately identified.

The Coast Guard had been searching since early Sunday for Martine Dusalt, 35, her boyfriend, Tom Hefferm, 45, and his 8-year-old son, Michael. They were aboard the 65-foot yacht Sundancer, returning to Marina del Rey from San Diego, when a distress call was heard from the yacht reporting that it was afire. Searchers found the burned yacht, but no sign of the three or of a large inflatable raft the yacht carried.

The air and sea search was called off Monday night, when no trace of them had been found, but resumed Tuesday after the fishing vessel Sea World found a body floating about 12 miles southeast of where the yacht sank, Coast Guard Petty Officer William Atkinson said.