Search Called Off; Boater Believed Dead

An intense, 15-hour search by the U.S. Coast Guard for a 38-year-old woman who fell off a boat Sunday and disappeared has been called off.

“There’s no way an individual could have been in our search pattern and not be detected,” U.S. Coast Guard Commander Ken Keane said. “We have to presume at this point she is dead.”

Pegye Bechler, who was piloting the 19-foot speedboat outside Newport Harbor while her husband, Eric, was pulled behind on a bodyboard, may have fallen overboard when it struck a wave about 4 p.m., authorities said.

Eric Bechler, 29, also fell when he hit the wave, but he surfaced quickly, finding the boat circling ahead of him without his wife, Keane said.

Within 30 minutes of the accident, 11 rescue boats and helicopters were searching the area, Keane said.

The Bechlers were not wearing life jackets and had not brought a third person as a lookout in case of an emergency, Keane said.

“This accident had all the ingredients of a boating tragedy,” Keane said. “Unfortunately, we see it too often.”

Although Pegye Bechler was a triathlete, Keane said, she would have sunk quickly if she had been knocked unconscious.

The couple, who have three children, had gone out to sea to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.

Ralph Rodheim, owner of Balboa Boat Rentals, where the Bechler’s rented the boat, said skiing, knee-boarding and other towing sports are forbidden by the rental company.