Police Pull Body From SF Bay During Search For Sunken Boat

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Police pulled a body near Treasure Island Thursday afternoon while trying to pinpoint the location of a boat that sank days earlier, leaving one person dead and survivors grappling with the tragedy.

Authorities have not confirmed whether the body could be one of three people missing after a boat capsized in the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday afternoon.

Officers with the San Francisco Marine Unit 3 were conducting sonar scanning to find the boat when another boat told them there was a body in the water west of Treasure Island, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The person was declared dead and handed over to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The medical examiner will determine the identity of the decedent and release the name after notifying the person's next of kin.

There were 20 people aboard the boat that Tuesday afternoon. Sixteen were rescued from the bay 600 yards from Alcatraz Island. Authorities believe others could have been trapped inside when the boat sank.

Officials previously identified Clifford Boisa, 79, of Sutter County, as the passenger who died after being pulled out of the water on Tuesday afternoon. A dog also died in the incident.

Three others remain missing as of Thursday. Authorities combed through the bay for a combined 54 hours before calling an end to the search late Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities are now turning their attention towards trying to recover the boat from the ocean floor, a difficult task given the location where it sank, which is more than 100 feet in depth.

"This hasn't happened as long as I can remember," Brien Hoo, commander of the special operations bureau in San Francisco, said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "So we're definitely going to have all hands on deck to think about how we're going to safely recover the boat and also with the safety of our divers."

Authorities believe a wave caused the 49-foot cabin cruiser to tilt on its side and sink; however, the cause remains under investigation.