Dive Teams Locate Boat Underwater

October 07, 2008

U.S. Coast Guard by ENS Stephanie Young

SAN PEDRO, Calif.- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department dive teams located a recreational vessel on the ocean floor believed to be the Bayliner that missing boaters Henry Sanchez, 51, and Penny Avila, 48, both of Santa Ana, Calif. were reportedly aboard.

A recreational boat fitting the profile of the missing 26-foot Bayliner was found upside down on the ocean floor, 5 miles south of the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor at a depth of around 150 feet. The dive teams from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Port Police believe the vessel may be the missing Bayliner based on past photos of the boat and the location of the wreck near the suspected collision site.

The agencies involved will develop a dive plan and recommence operations in an attempt to refloat the hull and pass it on to the Coast Guard as evidence in the investigation.

The continuing investigation has been an ongoing inter-agency response, including the Coast Guard, Los Angeles Port Police, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Long Beach Fire Department, and Los Angeles County Lifeguards. The underwater surveys, led by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, have employed surface vessels, a remotely operated vehicle to survey the ocean floor, sonar technology and divers.

A passing boater first notified the Coast Guard of a debris field 5 miles south of Los Angeles light. After searching over 300 square miles through the night, the Coast Guard suspended the search for survivors but has continued its investigation into the facts surrounding the boating accident.

© Copyright 2008 U.S. Coast Guard. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Bodies of US reps' brother, his girlfriend found

from The Associated Press

The wreckage of a 26-foot Bayliner pleasure boat is covered with a tarp after being recovered from the ocean floor in the Los Angeles harbor by the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008. Coast Guard and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials confirmed that the bodies also recovered by divers are 51-year-old Henry Sanchez and 48-year-old Penny Avila, the missing brother of two Southern California congresswomen and his girlfriend. Associated Press © 2008

Coast Guard Capt. Paul Wiedenhoeft, at podium, and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials confirm that the bodies recovered from a boat by divers are 51-year-old Henry Sanchez and and his girlfriend, 48-year-old Penny Avila, during a news conference at the Los Angeles Harbor on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008. Sanchez is the missing brother of two Southern California congresswomen. Associated Press © 2008

 LOS ANGELES October 9, 2008, 06:06 pm ET · The bodies of the brother of two Southern California congresswomen and his girlfriend have been recovered from the waters off Los Angeles, days after the couple disappeared during a boat trip, authorities said Thursday.

The bodies of Henry Sanchez, 51, and Penny Avila, 48, were pulled from the wreckage of Sanchez's 26-foot motor boat on Wednesday, Coast Guard and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said.

Sanchez is the brother of Democratic Reps. Loretta and Linda Sanchez, the nation's first sisters in Congress.

"It is with heavy hearts that we learn of their tragic fate," the congresswomen said in a statement issued Thursday. The sisters also praised the work of rescue crews.

Henry Sanchez and Avila left a Long Beach marina shortly after midnight on Oct. 2, headed for Catalina Island, Coast Guard Capt. Paul Wiedenhoeft said. It appears the boat collided with a supply barge being towed by a tug boat from Catalina Island to the Los Angeles harbor.

The wreckage of Sanchez's boat was discovered about 5 miles off the coast at a depth of 120 feet, divers said.

"It looks like this was a very tragic accident," Wiedenhoeft said at a news conference on a dock overlooking the harbor. The tarp-draped wreckage of the boat rested behind him, its white hull and two smashed outboard motors visible as breezes pulled at the covering.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Chris Young, one of about 15 divers involved in the recovery of the boat and the bodies, said it appeared the barge ran over the top of Sanchez's boat, because the cabin was knocked clean off. The bodies were found below deck, though it was not immediately clear where in the boat they were at the time of the collision.

Ed Winter, assistant chief in the Los Angeles coroner's department, said his office would seek final confirmation of the victims' identities and conduct toxicology tests.

Investigators found fiberglass fragments of what appeared to be Sanchez's boat in the barge and spoke to the captain of the tug, who was not aware a collision had occurred. The investigation into who had the right of way continued.

The 128-foot barge, returning to the Los Angeles harbor after a supply run to Catalina, was being towed about 1,100 feet behind the tug.

"I would find it very difficult to ascertain something that happened that far astern of me at that time of night," Wiedenhoeft said.

The ocean outside Long Beach is an extremely busy shipping channel frequently used by supply vessels to Catalina, heavy freighters and other boats.

The weather on the night of the accident was clear, though it was dark and there was no moon, Wiedenhoeft said. Both the barge and the tug appeared to have been correctly lighted.

There is no prohibition on night voyages, and some oceangoers prefer to set sail then because the sea can be calmer and less windy, several divers told The Associated Press.

Family members told authorities that both Sanchez and Avila were experienced boaters.

Recovery teams were able to find the sunken boat after days of searching with sonar equipment and remotely operated vehicles. Once they were certain they had found the vessel, divers were sent down to inspect it and begin the task of floating it back to the surface with air-filled balloons. The wrecked boat was hauled to the harbor early Thursday.