Two people were killed, and two remain missing after their vessel capsized in heavy surf off the coast near Point Reyes Wednesday morning, but the U.S. Coast Guard has since called off its search.
After an eleven-hour, multi-pronged search effort, the Coast Guard ceased the search for the remaining two boaters at around 10:55 p.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Laura Alcon said this morning.
The four boaters had been aboard a yellow-hulled sport fishing vessel that capsized at about noon in the surf off of Point Reyes National Seashore’s 10-Mile Beach, Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. j.g. Laura Williams said Wednesday night.
Coast Guard helicopters located two of the people, who were pulled from the water by a rescue vessel crew, but the pair was pronounced dead at the Bodega Bay Coast Guard Station by a Sonoma County deputy coroner, Williams said.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Marin County Fire Department, National Park Service and National Air Guard assisted in the search effort by deploying helicopters and people on foot to scout along the shore.
At one point this afternoon, rescuers sighted a third boater who was visible in shallow water with high surf, but they appear to have lost site of the individual.
Neither of the two individuals pulled from the water had been wearing a life jacket.
