Officials Identify Drowning Victim

A woman’s body found floating Saturday afternoon about five miles off the Oxnard shore was identified Monday as Jodi Petersen, 42, authorities said.

The Santa Ynez resident drowned Friday night or early Saturday morning while boating with her husband, authorities said.

Despite an intensive air and water search, Petersen’s husband, 50-year-old Robert P. Petersen, has not been found, said Coast Guard Lt. Jeanne Reincke. The search was halted Sunday afternoon.

“We assume that he has drowned at this point unless something happens to change our minds,” Reincke said.

The couple left Santa Barbara Harbor on Friday afternoon aboard their pleasure craft “Tootsy,” authorities said. A man sailing Saturday morning found the 38-foot abandoned powerboat about nine miles off Oxnard.

The leaking boat had taken on more than 3 feet of water. On board, authorities found Robert Petersen’s passport, a cellular phone and a dinghy, Reincke said. Seat cushions were found floating nearby, she added.

Coast Guard officials said they received no radio calls from the boat, which they described as being in disrepair. At the time, the sea was calm, they said.

Armando Chavez, a deputy coroner with the Ventura County medical examiner’s office, said toxicology tests on Jodi Petersen will be conducted, with results available in a few weeks.

Petersen is survived by an adult daughter from a previous marriage, authorities said.