Body pulled from San Francisco Bay: What we know about the boat accident near Alcatraz

Authorities are trying to determine why a boat sank in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday, fatally injuring one passenger and leaving three missing and presumed dead.

In the latest development, the San Francisco Police Department recovered a body from the waters west of Treasure Island on Thursday afternoon. The identity of the deceased isn’t yet known.

Here’s a brief rundown of what unfolded this week.

What do we know about the incident?

A group of 20 passengers — mostly family and friends — boarded the boat, called Volare, Tuesday for a memorial service to honor a loved one. After setting out from a marina in the San Francisco Bay Area, they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge to the Pacific Ocean and across San Francisco Bay to Angel Island.

But as afternoon winds whipped up, the 49-foot recreational cruise boat took on water as they made their way back to shore. It began to sink about 600 yards off Alcatraz Island around 3:30 p.m. Some passengers clung to the top deck of the submerged boat while others floated in choppy waters.

Multiple 911 calls came in for a vessel in distress, prompting a massive rescue operation involving the U.S. Coast Guard and the San Francisco Fire Department and multiple partner agencies. Several good Samaritans also worked to pull people out of the top level of the sinking vessel.

Rescuers scrambled to pull 17 passengers to safety Tuesday afternoon, but one person was pronounced dead upon reaching the shore and three people were transported to a hospital with injuries from falling into the water. Three passengers were unaccounted for.

What about the search?

The search for the missing was challenged not only by high winds and rough seas but also because the incident took place in a particularly deep channel of the bay dredged for cargo ships, according to Lt. Mariano Elias, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department.

Most of San Francisco Bay is less than 30 feet deep, but the area where the boat went down was about 130 feet deep. Fire Department divers typically do not venture lower than 60 feet, Elias said.

Officials do not know if the missing people are with the boat, trapped under one of its three decks, or were swept out to sea. But Jarod Toczko, the U.S. Coast Guard’s San Francisco sector commander, said there was a “high probability” that the missing individuals were trapped inside the vessel.

Around 1 p.m. Thursday, a vessel alerted officers with the San Francisco police Marine Unit that a body was floating in the water west of Treasure Island. Officers retrieved the body, and the identity of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. It is not yet clear whether this person was a victim of the boating accident.

Survivors, Toczko said, reported that passengers were on the main deck and possibly below deck when the boat ran into problems.

At 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, after the Coast Guard and other agencies searched 950 square miles for a total of 54 hours, the Coast Guard suspended its active search based on the extensive efforts already conducted and the dwindling probability of locating a survivor.

“Suspending a search is one of the hardest parts of the job and our condolences are with the families of all involved,” Toczko said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Who was on the boat?

The group of friends and family boarded the boat for a memorial service. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, they gathered to scatter the ashes of Maria Boisa, a nurse from Fremont who died by suicide in 2015 at age 32.

The man who died was identified Wednesday by the San Francisco medical examiner as Clifford Joseph Boisa, 79, of Sutter County. According to the Chronicle, he was the older brother of John Boisa, 62, who owned and captained the vessel.

A dog aboard the vessel also perished.

Where is the boat?

The San Francisco Police Department is working with the state Office of Emergency Services to locate the sunken boat.

San Francisco Police Cmdr. Brien Hoo said Wednesday his department was assessing the feasibility of bringing the vessel to the surface.

Once the boat is found, he said, the department will use an underwater drone to assess how structurally sound it is and determine whether they have the capability to raise it.