Dead Woman Found in Dana Point Harbor

A 60-year-old woman apparently drowned earlier this week in a marina area where she lived on a boat, officials said Friday.

Pepe Martini-Wilkes was found Thursday floating in the water at the Dana Point Harbor, several slips away from where her boat is docked, Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.

Martini-Wilkes was last seen Wednesday night at Turk’s, a local bar just blocks from the harbor, officials said. Workers at the bar said the woman, whose family lives in New Zealand, was a regular at Turk’s.

Witnesses told police that she had been drinking Wednesday night. Martini-Wilkes took a cab home and apparently left her car at the bar, Wilkerson said.

She was found about 11:20 the next morning by a boater who discovered her in the water, fully clothed, wearing spiked heels, Harbor Patrol Lt. Dick Olson said.

“We suspect she fell off of her boat,” Wilkerson said.

Authorities said they don’t believe foul play was involved. The accident remains under investigation.

Martini-Wilkes’ death is the 12th Orange County drowning this year, according to statistics from the county Health Care Agency. Six such deaths were recorded in the county last year.

Since January, 1995, five children and seven adults have died in pool, bathroom or ocean drownings.

Most adult drownings are caused by some kind of health condition, like seizures, or excessive alcohol consumption, said Dr. Hildy Meyers, an county health care agency epidemiologist.